Aid Conflict
by Greysouthpaw
Summary: Alpha Force are back in Africa, working with the UN to try bring humanitarian aid to a war ravaged nation. But someone doesn't want that aid to be delivered and they're willing to do anything to stop it. Grittier but with a little bit of humor and romance
1. prologue

**Prologue**

**A.N. -** I made up a fictional country with some real issues for this one just to give me a bit of creative license as far as story and background. As far as characters go, you should all know the main ones that **belong to Chris Ryan** **and know that they don't belong to me.** Of course I had to make up a few for the sake of a story and hopefully I've added maybe a little something to the existing ones as what I see as a natural progression. Enjoy.

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><p>Solambia was a nation in turmoil. Having recently formed from the remains of two different war ravaged African countries; it was a nation of refugees trying to make a new start.<p>

The self elected leader President Moufasa Lomada and his private army kept the populace in a constant state of terror and poverty with squads ransacking the newly formed villages.

Violence was the most common form of persuasion with the army. Rape, torture and killings were a constant danger for all civilians.

Foreign aid was still mainly focussed in other areas of the world including the two countries Solambia separated from and accordingly, people were dying by the thousands from starvation, civil unrest and treatable disease.

Aid was starting to trickle in but was largely held off by military blockades that commandeered supplies for the benefit of the army.

The people of Solambia, gripped in a daily life and death struggle, waited desperately for something to change….

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><p><strong>A.N.- <strong>My first bit of writing. Ever. So I apologise in advance if it's crap. Hopefully it's a bit of the same sort of style, from a different guy who also has a fair amount of experience and knowledge in the more hazardous skills used by Alpha force.


	2. Chapter 2

Li sighed loudly and jumped down from the ochre windowsill.

"I'm bored!" she shouted, her oriental features heavy with frustration.

She wore only short shorts, which barely covered her tan legs and a singlet top in consideration of the oppressive Egyptian heat.

The rest of Alpha force seemed to be struggling with the change in climate too.

The two British teens also wore only shorts and singlets; the heat in Cairo noticeably affecting them.

Alex's light fringe was plastered to his sweaty forehead and beads of perspiration visibly dripped off his pale arms onto the leg of the aged chair he was seated in. He smiled to himself when he tried to think of a time when Li was not bored just sitting around.

"We wait." He simply said, his grin stretching.

Sitting on the bed next to him, Hex kept brushing the sweat from his forehead up into his hair, which was causing it to spike up into dark mountain peaks without the aid of hair product. He was irritable, it was much hotter then he was used to and he was reluctant to open his palmtop in fear of dripping sweat on it.

His green eyes softened a little as they darted over to steal a glance at Amber, lying on her bed in her midriff exposing top and matching running shorts._ I gotta stop staring, _he thought quietly to himself, he hated to think of the embarrassment he would face if one of the others noticed his glances.

"Waiting isn't so bad" he mumbled quietly to himself, with a small smile.

Amber uncrossed her legs and sat up.

"Well it's got to be better then staring at a tiny screen all day, right Codeboy?" She remarked quickly, her eyes trying not to focus on Hex. Every time she did, she would notice his broad shoulders and thick arms dripping with perspiration and the room suddenly got a little bit hotter.

From the other side of the room a loud Spanish accented voice piped up, "Hey keep it down _Amigos, _some of us are trying to _siesta!"_

The heavily built Argentinean was sprawled out on a bed with his eyes closed peacefully. Having completely abandoned any facade of modesty, the light breeze from outside danced lightly across his bare chest.

"Besides," He continued. "Camilla said there was no point trying to go anywhere in the heat of the day, we should rest up for tonight when we will go out."

Li rolled her eyes. There was hardly a time when the laid back Argentinean wasn't resting up.

"Paulo's right," Nodded Alex. "We should keep hydrated and try to get some rest like Camilla said."

Li and Amber stifled a giggle at Alex.

"Of course you would agree with whatever Camilla says, right Alex?" Amber innocently asked.

Alex flushed bright red at this; secretly, he had felt quite a connection with the pretty tanned South African girl, who was the groups' contact in the UN poverty relief team.

It was her who had organised with John Middleton the planned trip into the country of Solambia and the groups' first joint work with the United Nations. She was only nineteen and Alex had marvelled so far at the confidence and ability she had to be working with the UN in some of the world's dangerous places. They appeared to share a mutual love of the outdoors, exercise and doing something better in the world.

Feigning confusion, he blustered "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Even Hex and Paulo hid grins at the reaction from their usually quiet and restrained friend.

"Oh come on Alex you both totally lost track of time at lunch, staring into each others eyes and talking about survival on the savannah." Li teased, "She had to rush away to make her next appointment on time!"

Alex's shade of red deepened into a brilliant scarlet.

"And don't forget the '_Yeah my dad is in the SAS, so that's what I want to do too' _pick up line" Amber mocked in an exaggerated Geordie accent.

Even Alex couldn't help but crack up laughing at Amber's imitation of him and soon everyone were rolling on the floor in joke, about a fact that Alex seemed to trot out all to often with strangers. Alex was soon spared from further embarrassment, as no one had enough breathe left to tease him.

The exertion of laughing at their friend left Alpha force feeling even hotter then before and one by one they collected themselves from the floor and retired back to their respective seats.

"Alright, alright" Li conceded, quietening down the remaining giggles with her raised hands "I know it is hot, but if any of us want to be of any use tonight loading up the last of the stores at the airport we had better get some rest."

"Some of us hotter then others," Amber giggled, looking at Alex who had still not completely lost his reddened complexion.

"It affects everyone differently" Alex replied levelly, before slyly adding "You seemed a bit hot and bothered yourself earlier Amber, it was somewhere around the time when Hex was doing his press-ups for the afternoon."

Amber pointedly looked away, mumbling quickly "I think I'm going to go take a cold shower."

Paulo grinned from ear to ear and nudged a suddenly red and intensely sweating Hex.

"You look like you could use one too _Hombre_."

Hex glared back at Paulo "I think I liked you better when you were asleep."

The remaining Alpha force laughed and got ready for some sleep of their own.


	3. Chapter 3

Camilla quietly arrived at the hotel at 530 to find Alpha Force largely still in bed. The only person who seemed unable to sleep and was up and about was Hex.

The London teen sat out on the balcony of the hotel overlooking the ancient city and was relieved to see the sun disappearing on the horizon. His eyes drifted back down his prized palmtop and the email he was in the middle of reading. It was from a shady friend of his the NiteWatcher who had always been a reliable source of information regarding anything illegal or dodgy that was happening around the world.

Hex's email from NiteWatcher was describing the violence that was occurring in Solambia and the problems aid agencies were having gaining access to the largely rural population.

The army, as NiteWatcher described it, was predominantly a ground force of poorly trained conscripts from the former states that separated to form Solambia.

They were adequately armed, self-proclaimed freedom fighters that had followed their leader Lomada in a coup against the government forces. It ended in the taking of a sizeable area of land to claim as their new independent nation of which, Lomada was now the self-proclaimed president of.

Hex was quite shocked by the descriptions of the graphic atrocities committed by Lomada's troops in the name of maintaining sovereignty. He became quite engrossed in the email and almost jumped out of his skin moments later when Camilla, who had quietly let herself in, sat down in the chair beside him.

"Jeez Camilla you scared the hell out of me" Hex whispered darkly, annoyed at having been caught by surprise.

The honey blonde smiled brightly unfazed.

"Someone is awfully jumpy this evening! Don't tell me you got spooked from the morning we spent in the pyramids." She teased in a light African accent.

Hex bared a small grin "Na I was more scared of losing circulation in my arm because of how hard someone was gripping it as we walked past the tombs."

Camilla caught the look in his eye and the quick glance he made over his shoulder when he said it and she smiled.

Behind his false bravado Hex winced. He had actually found it quite difficult to remain calm in the confines of the maze that ran beneath the pyramid they had entered.

There seemed like such little room to move and he couldn't help but think about how old all the supporting structures must be. Flashbacks from Belize haunted his whole journey through the catacombs and he was actually quietly reassured by Amber's hand squeezing his the whole way.

Needless to say he breathed a sigh of relief when the emerged out the other side into the Egyptian sun, the others thought it was a blast though and he was reluctant to ruin the experience for them.

Camilla giggled her tanned face crinkling, eyes set in remembering the tombs.

"I thought she and Li were going to kill Paulo when he jumped out of that tomb at them."

Hex couldn't help but chuckle; remembering the look on Ambers face when she had screamed before realising it was Paulo and rushing over to assist Li, who was delivering a few good punches to the offenders shoulder.

A banging and a crash behind them caused them both to remember the other people staying in the room and turn in time to see Paulo sprawled on the floor, a chair snaked around his legs.

"_Dios" _He cursed, "I was trying to sneak over to wake the others. I didn't realise they would leave booby traps out."

"The SAS special" Alex quipped sleepily, before winking at Paulo and the room dissolved in laughter for the second time in a day.

As the mirth diminished Camilla raised her voice to be heard by the group

"Now we are all awake and together we can head over to the airport. I've got a vehicle waiting downstairs, get dressed and I'll meet you in the lobby."

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><p>A quickly dressed Alpha force was downstairs five minutes later (<strong>A.N. -<strong> that's pretty quick for a group with two girls in it :p) and piled into the minivan. Camilla was already sitting behind the wheel and she nodded in approval at the choice of clothes that the group had gotten into.

Alex climbing in the front caught her look and explained " You mentioned that it gets pretty cold here at night time so I figured we should aim for warm clothes."

" Hmmm you were listening weren't you?" she mused with a smile "You are dead right it cools down into almost the negative figures in the deserts here at night time, making it essential to wrap up warm."

Li whispered to Paulo, Hex and Amber with a grin. "Is there such thing as a wedding in the middle of the bush for survival junkies?"

The back of the minivan hissed with barely suppressed laughter as the oblivious front seat continued discussing the weather for the remainder of the short journey to Cairo Airport.

Five minutes later the group stepped out onto a large, weathered runway that twisted away behind the main terminal like a black snake. Floodlights illuminated several large aircraft hangers and a single Hercules C130 cargo plane with its cargo door opened. Camilla indicated the remaining supplies that needed stacking onto pallets before being loaded into the large plane.

"This is the last of it, we've just got to get these supplies stowed and we will be ready to go tomorrow" She explained to the group.

"I can't stay and help sorry" she added guiltily "I've got to head across to the terminal to check our flight clearance."

As Camilla walked off to the terminal, Paulo smiled at the bright yellow forklift parked up by the plane "Alright let's get to work then."

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><p>Amber sighed, she Hex and Alex were busy loading bags of food, medicine and water onto a pallet beside an enormous cargo plane. She glared angrily across at the far hanger full of cargo planes like the one they were loading, these ones were surrounded by various men and woman smoking or drinking coffee.<p>

"Don't offer to help or anything," she growled under her breath, breathing hard from lifting the heavy sack and containers.

Leaning back casually at the wheel of the forklift Paulo stared at the moonlight on the pyramids with a relaxed look on his face. Him and Li had gotten the easy jobs; Li, with her knowledge of ropes and knots, was on securing the supplies to the pallets while he used the forklift to put the pallets on the plane.

Li was leaning against the pallet they had just secured and loaded, Feeling cheeky she called over to her friends.

"Hey can't you guys load those pallets any quicker? We've still got to put them on the plane you know."

Dirty looks flew her way instantly and she was saved a harsh comment from Amber or Hex by the appearance of a tall African man who wandered towards the group, eyeing the plane with interest.

He was a tall, strong looking man who carried himself with a slow steady gait, his dark skin accentuated in the spreading darkness. As he came closer Hex noticed that something was wrong with his appearance somehow. He couldn't put his finger on it until the man turned to face Paulo and Hex noticed in horror that he was missing his left ear.

Amber gasped and put her hand over her mouth, she couldn't help but stare at the small grisly lump, which was all that remained.

The man spoke in broken, accented English.

"This the Aid Planes? Red Cross, UN yes?"

Paulo who was closest nodded.

The mans brow furrowed

"Just one plane?" He inquired.

Amber didn't hesitate to reply "No there are three more already loaded to go, this is the last one now. The others are parked safely in the hanger"

The mysterious One-Ear grunted then smiled a wide smile exposing yellow and brown stained teeth.

"I go see" he stated and walked off towards the hanger.

"Man did you see his freaking ear?" Li blurted out no sooner had the man left.

"No kidding that was so gross" Amber shuddered.

"I wonder how he lost it?" Alex pondered.

Hex could already feel his fingers itching to get on his palmtop and do some digging into the matter, _it can wait though_ he told himself, _we have got to finish up here first_.

Paulo waved to get everyone's attention and put down his phone.

"That was Camilla she said the guys here will finish loading and that we need to get back to the hotel and pack up our stuff for tomorrow."

Pleased for the reprieve, the five friends started walking back to the minivan parked at the edge of the runway.

"I dunno did old Stumpy back there seem suspicious to you guys?" Hex asked finally, speaking his mind.

"Hmm he was just loitering around the planes right? That is a bit odd." Alex admitted.

"Why don't we- Li started.

Suddenly Alpha force was blown off their feet by the concussive blast as the plane behind to them disappeared in an explosion of heat and shrapnel that light up the night sky.


	4. Chapter 4

Alex's ears were ringing from the noise and barely registered the second explosion, much bigger then the first occur right beside them in the hanger.

Hex, who was closer to the secondary detonation, closed his eyes and pressed Amber to the ground as hard as he could, his body protecting hers. He concluded that out of sheer luck the first explosion saved their lives; if they had still been standing when the hanger exploded they would have been torn to bits.

_That is assuming everyone has survived the first explosion, _he bitterly finished.

Li was the first to look up and see the black smoke billowing from two directions. She turned her head and felt something heavy in her settle, as she saw all her friends alive and looking about, scared.

She locked eyes with Paulo beside her, who was still looking back disbelievingly where the plane had been.

Typically, Alex was the first to recover his senses, slowly getting to his feet he dashed back to his friends.

"Is everyone alright?" He frantically gasped.

Getting a nod from everyone, a relieved Alex settled to a knee by his friends to plan their next course of action, as flaming debris rained down around them.

"What the hell just happened?" Amber angrily cried, still upset and clutching Hex.

"This was no accident," He growled with a steely tone in his voice.

"We will figure it out later" Alex decided, as the night was punctuated by screams from the nearby hanger. "Right now there are people who need our help."

Taking command, Alex started snapping out orders.

"Paulo get back to the minivan get the first aid kit, you and Hex are on triaging and treating the injured. Amber, I need you to see what else you can get in the way of resources, one first aid kit wont last long.

Alex turned to Li " You and me will be on extrication of the injured from the hanger."

"Everyone know what they are doing?" He asked sternly, getting to his feet and looking at his friends, who nodded grimly, "Alright then, lets go."

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><p>Paulo and Hex sprinted towards the minivan, Hex already on his phone to emergency services.<p>

Amber decided to try the nearest undamaged hanger, poking her head in the door she noticed a pallet of supplies that hadn't been loaded yet. She smiled flatly; _it's all for a good cause right?_ She thought as she tore off the strapping and reached for the medical packs.

Li and Alex were having a much harder time; people were now stumbling out of the burning shed coughing and screaming. As best they could, they shepherded the wounded towards Paulo and Hex, who had set up a treatment area by the van.

Alex grabbed Li's hand as she prepared to run into the burning hanger.

"Li stop!" He yelled, turning her to face him "It's not like the bloody movies! You can't run back into a burning building and expect to survive"

Furious and fighting back tears, she screamed back at him. "What the hell are we supposed to do then?"

"We don't have the right equipment to fully go in or to put it out, we can create another way for people to escape though," Alex said calmly.

Li nodded and together they moved round to the back of the building.

"Here" Amber shouted, dropping an armful of medical supplies at the edge of Paulo's treatment blanket. " There's plenty more where that came from too."

"We need it all!" Yelled Paulo, losing the relaxed edge to his voice, "And I need you too when you have got everything."

Glancing around him at the chaos, Paulo felt overwhelmed. He had 13 people from the building gathered on a blanket by the side of a road, with just him and Hex to help them.

The patients were in varying states of injury, there were varying degrees of cuts, burns, bruises and most had broken limbs. They were all coughing from the smoke and many were screaming in pain.

The young man that Hex was looking after had been dragged out by his friends and had obviously been very close to the plane when it exploded. Hex watched as his breathing became more laboured and suddenly stopped.

In panic, Hex looked up to meet Paulo's eyes, who nodded sadly then returned to bandaging a woman's arm.

Hex felt tears well in his emerald eyes, as he respectfully brought the dead man's blanket up to cover his badly scarred face.

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><p>Around the back of the hanger Li and Alex heard a banging on the corrugated iron walls, the muffled cries of a man filtered through. Finding the section closest to the noise, the two friends dug their fingers into the gaps between the sheets of iron.<p>

The pressure wave created by the explosion had all but knocked out the walls of the iron shed, but it still took all their strength before it would move.

"Where's Paulo when you need him?" Li breathed through grated teeth.

Alex dug his fingers in further, ignoring the pain and with one final heave the sheet finally came away from the building.

Smoke instantly started wafting out of the new hole and a terrified man with his shirt on fire bolted out into the open ground and started rolling. Li took off her jacket and used that to help the man put out the flames, while Alex tried to peer through the thick smoke.

Coughing as smoke drifted straight into his mouth and eyes, Alex froze.

Through the smoke he could make out a pair of legs lying on the ground mere metres away. With Li helping the burnt man over to Paulo, Alex dove in through the gap on his hands and knees to grab the pair of legs.

Straining with all his might he tugged on the legs, which didn't move an inch. Just as he about to give up he felt another body beside him in the gap and turned to see Amber grinning up at him.

"Need a hand there Alex?" She wheezed, he nodded and pointed at the man.

They held onto a leg each and tugged with all their might, finally feeling something on top of the body move and the effort required to move it drastically reduced. They dragged the body out of the smoke and saw that it was a middle-aged man; much to their amazement he was still breathing too.

Li returned in shock to find another patient and between the three of them, they manhandled the unconscious man over to Paulo.

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><p>With the added manpower of the others arriving back, Paulo was able to focus on the critical man who had just arrived.<p>

Paulo lifted his shirt to look at the man's breathing and saw that one side of the man's chest was not rising with the other side. He quickly found the cause and saw a large ugly bruise over the ribs on the dormant side, when he touched the bruise he felt bones move underneath his hand.

The man's breathing was getting worse and he was becoming increasingly pale, Paulo could only feel a very weak pulse at his neck.

Suddenly he clicked as to what was happening; the ailing man's lung was punctured from the broken ribs and this was causing him to go into shock.

Paulo had read about this and knew that a hole in the lung caused the chest to fill with air, which increased pressure in the chest and crushed the heart and remaining lung.

If he didn't find some way to release this pressure the man would die.

"Hex!" Paulo screamed, knowing what he needed to do.

"What is it Paulo? What do you need?" Hex panted, having sprinted over at Paulo's cry.

"_Amigo_. No time for questions I need a needle and a syringe now, the biggest needle you can find." Paulo, looked at his friend, " and please hurry."

Hex sprinted back to Paulo carrying the requested items and tossed them to him

"Is that what you were after?" Hex asked concerned.

"Perfect." Hissed Paulo looking at the large bore cannula usually used for intravenous access. "Now hold him still."

Paulo removed the safety cap off the needle and deftly attached the syringe to the back of it.

Carefully he measured until he was just above the third rib and in line with the middle of the collarbone. Paulo looked his friend in the eye holding his gaze for a lingering second, his look saying 'trust me' and plunged the needle into the unconscious man's chest.

Both teenagers held their breath as they saw the plunger on the syringe slowly rise and their patient's breathing get easier.

"Holy shit, what the hell was that?" Hex whispered in awe, looking at the needle still in the man's chest.

Paulo couldn't help but give his cocky cowboy grin as he answered. "That was a chest decompression. I want to be a paramedic when I finish school next year, I saw that in one of the textbooks."

Hex was blown away, not least of all by the fact that Paulo was already thinking about life after school. As he looked at his friend with a new respect the flashing red and blue lights of emergency vehicles washed over them.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- **Dedicated to DammitimmaD for reading the first few chapters and enjoying them :)

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><p>At the familiar sound of his voice Amber drew back the curtain on the cubicle next to her and was shocked to see Hex with his shirt off and a pretty young nurse standing in front of him. She scowled at him and gave the nurse a scathing look too, Hex just smiled uncertainly back at her.<p>

"Hey" he muttered sheepishly

The scowl died on her lips when she saw all the little cuts on Hex's back and flank now realising why his shirt was off. Small flecks of blood covered his back and side, each representing a tiny piece of shrapnel embedded in his flesh from the explosion.

Amber turned away, her face burning in shame at the thoughts she had previously harboured and the embarrassment of having only came away with a few minor nicks and cuts.

"I'm sorry" she choked unable to meet his gaze.

"What for?" Hex asked quietly, reaching for her hand as she came to sit by him.

"I'm sorry for acting weird just now", Amber whispered finally meeting his gaze and with tears welling in her eyes, "I'm sorry you got all cut up protecting me. I am sorry I never-"

"Hex you're alright!" Paulo burst through the curtain to clap him on the shoulder, followed closely by Li and Alex.

As the nurse finished removing the last of the shrapnel, Hex noticed everyone was sporting bandages for various cuts, grazes and burns. Despite their protests Alpha Force had been transported to hospital for treatment along with their patients.

Overall the friends were in pretty good shape, Li and Alex had needed some bandaging done to their hands after their struggle with the corrugated iron and Hex's back was covered in cuts but that was the worst of it.

"Camilla's coming to pick us up soon" Paulo announced brightly "that is" he added with a coy smile "if Hex is finished showing off for the ladies."

Hex laughed and rebutted "I'd rather a back full of holes then that carpet of chest hair you've got Paulo."

"The holey back is way more sexy" Amber added with an eyebrow raise.

Alex stepped in before things got out of hand "Well if they are done patching you up Hex, I really think we should meet up with Camilla, she might have information about what happened."

Li couldn't help but have a crack at Alex for that and added.

"I'm sure she was worried about you too Alex, we better not keep her waiting."

* * *

><p>Funnily enough Li was right; climbing into the van they noticed the look of worry etched on their new friend's face. It gave way to a look of relief when all five friends were in the vehicle and apparently fine.<p>

She turned to Alex in the passenger seat her eyes dark and declared.

"You should have called me sooner" Her voice sounded strained, as she continued, "When I heard what happened I was sure that one of you must have been killed."

Alex went white as paper and stared back at her; he was rubbish at this sort of thing.

"Uh we were um… pretty busy for a while there…" He stammered, feeling like an idiot. "Sorry we had you worried" he finished weakly.

"Hmmppff, I wasn't worried!" Camilla protested, pouting, "I'll let it go this time, just don't do it again okay?"

Alex looked weakly to the others for help, Li coughed something that sounded suspiciously like 'bush wedding' but Amber came to his rescue.

"Sorry Camilla we're used to operating fairly independently we'll try harder to be team players in the future."

Camilla nodded at this, seemingly satisfied.

Paulo spoke up from the backseat asking what had been weighing on everyone's mind.

"What caused the explosions at the airport and what's going to happen to our aid mission?

Camilla bit her lip "We don't know about the explosions yet but the UN suspects sabotage. As for the aid mission we still have one plane of cargo that was getting refuelled at the time of explosion, but nobody willing to go into the country now. Not to mention a large number of our support staff from the airport are still in hospital.

Hex sat quietly in the back his fingers dancing over the keys of his palmtop; he was trawling the net trying to find information on the mysterious man they had met at the airfield. He passed the small device forward to Alex and Camilla in the front.

"This is the man we saw acting suspicious around the plane and the hanger before the explosions started." He explained.

Camilla glanced down from the red light in front of her and gasped at the picture Alex held on the small glowing screen.

* * *

><p>"My god! He was at the airfield?" She blurted out, "That is Lomada's most trusted Lieutenant; they call him the Hyena. He is an evil man directly responsible for most of the murder or torture that happens in his country." Camilla looked across at Alex, her eyes wide with shock. "He could easily have planted the explosives that destroyed the supplies and injured so many."<p>

"He obviously didn't want us to make that mission" Li grimly noted.

"All the more reason why we must still go." Paulo stated simply.

Their driver, who was still in a state of shock, pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road. Her blond ponytail flashed as she turned to face the back. "You can't be serious?" She exclaimed incredulously, "You were almost killed and we would be going against a whole army to deliver this aid."

Alpha force shared a knowing smile

"It wouldn't be the first time we have been in harms way" Hex sarcastically replied.

Camilla gazed at the determined faces of the five teenagers. Their effort at the airport had been nothing short of extraordinary, the doctors and paramedics had marvelled at the organization and level of care the friends had provided. The limited information she had managed to find about the teens prior to mission seemed to indicate that they had a broad skill set and a knack for getting themselves in and out of trouble.

"I'm sorry," she admitted in a low voice, "I'm going alone. Do you guys understand how dangerous this mission will be? I can't guarantee your safety when we enter the country." Camilla shook her head, looking as though she didn't want to pursue this line of thought much further.

"I understand you are a pretty special group of friends, but I can manage this."

Alpha force struggled to hide their disappointment and shock at the turn of events.

"But Camilla we…" Amber indignantly started, before being cut of by an icy stare from the tanned blonde girl. Li patted her friend's arm in support but remained quiet.

"No I'm sorry this topic isn't up for discussion" Camilla firmly ordered, her expression softened though when she saw the disappointment that had given way to exhaustion in the faces of her friends.

"You guys look exhausted, lets get you back to the hotel, you can get some rest and in the morning maybe you can think about what you want to do with your remaining time in Africa."

Alex nodded forlornly with a look of sad acceptance on his face knowing how much this mission had meant to his friends.

Hex slipped out his palmtop out of pouch trying to look indifferent and ignore the hollowness that had replaced his earlier excitement. Amber rolled her eyes at the hacker's stoic gesture and turned to look out the window. She couldn't help but wonder sadly how many people would have died today, not just from the explosion but also from the delay in much needed aid.

She also wondered about this young woman Camilla, who seemed so unwilling for their help but was determined to go herself.

Paulo's usual grinning face was stretched and silent with fatigue, he definitely agreed with Camilla that they needed some sleep. He couldn't stop yawning and Li smiled at that, despite her anger with Camilla for treating them like kids.

The van pulled up outside the hotel and a grumbling yawning Alpha force began to pile out.

"Get some sleep" Called their driver in her accented English, "I know I need some after today." She added quietly.

* * *

><p>Alex lingered behind the others in the passenger seat beside her, turning to her with a sharp look on his young face he quietly asked.<p>

"So you are going to try and go into Solambia on you own then?"

Camilla scrubbed her face with her hands before replying

"I guess so, someone has to." She said eventually, meeting his gaze. "We can't spare the manpower after the explosion so I'll probably enlist the help of some of the locals to get the job done."

Alex's expression was unreadable, as he leaned in closer to her and whispered

"I don't like the thought of you in there by yourself. Take us with you, it will be safer and I promise you that we won't slow you down."

Camilla found herself once again struck by the young man's maturity and quiet confidence, no wonder he was the one the rest looked to for direction. A shiver passed down her spine as she realised the proximity of his face to her own and his intense stare searching her face. Surprised by her body's reaction and reluctant to consider it's meaning, she tore her eyes from the boy's handsome face and answered him softly.

"I think it's very sweet that you are worried about me." Placing her hand on his, "But I have to stand by what I said earlier. I can take care of myself I don't need anyone's help." She uttered softly yet with a stubborn edge.

Feeling as though a live current had passed through his hand, Alex struggled to keep his breathing level.

"Fine. You said you were short staffed so just think about it okay?" Alex muttered quietly, reluctantly breaking contact with her and rising from his seat to follow the others.

"Alex.." she started in a whisper, but the British boy had already left the vehicle and was walking to the lobby.

Camilla sighed to herself put the van into gear and took off again.

* * *

><p>From the lobby Alex glanced over his shoulder to watch the van pull away before he stepped into the elevator shaking his head sadly.<p>

Unbeknownst to Alex he was not the only one watching the van leave; as the blond haired boy disappeared from sight, the dark skinned doorman smiled to himself and slid a cellphone from his pocket.

His gruff voice spoke into it briefly in a foreign dialect, the phone pressed to his only ear, before he slipped it back out of sight. He turned to the hotel bar where three tall African men in long coats stood casually; meeting their eyes with a hard look he held up five fingers and nodded. Then, with the same sinister grin as before, he walked from the lobby.

He would take care of the persistent girl from the UN personally.

* * *

><p>On the 5th floor where Alpha force was staying Alex stumbled through the door to their shared room and silently climbed onto his bed. It wasn't exactly five star accommodation and Amber had complained about it the whole time they had stayed. The beds were comfortable though and that's all that mattered to Paulo.<p>

He collapsed onto his bed fully clothed and was snoring before Hex had even gotten his shoes off. Shaking his head with a grin creeping across his face, Hex suddenly remembered what Paulo had done that afternoon. If anyone deserved some rest it was that man.

Unfortunately with that memory came the images of the last breathes from an unknown man on the ground at the airfield, before his life slipped away.

Hex closed his eyes trying to block out the movie playing of it in his head and the feeling of helplessness he had felt.

_Think about something else_ he mentally instructed himself and was provided an ample opportunity when Amber padded back from the bathroom. Her hair was tussled up in a towel and she was in her simple cotton pyjamas, Hex could smell her sweet scent infused with some blend of flowers as she climbed into her bed opposite his.

Amber felt much better clean and in fresh clothes, the smell of smoke had taken ages to get off her and the shower water had been black for the first few minutes. Her heart clenched guiltily as she watched Hex wince as he lay back onto his bed, _his back must be killing him _she thought. Pushing thoughts of guilt, fear and sadness aside, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come.

No such sleep would come for Li, she felt far too awake and she sat out on the balcony quietly stewing with her Ipod. Bringing aid to the remote regions of Solambia had seemed like such an important thing to do and she was crestfallen at the loss of an opportunity to help those in need.

_Camilla isn't much older then us and she's going to go, _ Li thought unfairly. Thinking of their new friend, she suddenly remembered seeing Alex hang back as she and the others had left the van. _Hmmm I wonder what that was all about_? She smirked to herself, deciding to interrogate the Northumbrian about it. Pushing her head through the French doors that led back to the room, she was shocked and disappointed to see her friends already sound asleep. She smiled at the sight of her sleeping friend, the grubby Argentinean unconscious in his filthy clothes snoring away like a comatose bear.

Deprived the opportunity for some fun Li wandered back outside closing the curtains and French door quietly. She dropped to the floor and started alternating between a Cobra and a Cat stretch, satisfied at the clicking that issued from her back and the relief that the stretch brought her tired muscles.

Isolated by the curtains and the door, Li did not hear the quiet voice outside the hotel door counting to three in a foreign tongue.


	6. Chapter 6

The door to the hotel room smashed open with a resounding crash, as three menacing looking men burst in screaming and armed with pistols. The sleeping friends were taken completely by surprise and only had time to yell in alarm and fear, as they were dragged from their beds and ushered into the large on suite bathroom.

The four friends each took the situation differently.

As usual Hex became even more introverted and stony, the only indication of any distress being the unnatural pale colour his face had went. His mind speeding like the bullets housed in the weapon at his head, he realised with a grim swallow that these men meant business and probably intended to kill them. Frustrated, his mind churned out possible ideas and rejected them just as quickly and recognising how much of a predicament they were in, he tried to subtly move himself between Amber and the gunmen.

Alex's mind was drawing similar morbid conclusions noting the lack of disguise, the aggressive nature of the assault and finally the weapons they were holding. His recent summer of research into the types of firearms commonly used worldwide was put to good use, as Alex identified the plain looking pistol as the Browning high power. A reliable pistol that had been around for almost eighty years, Alex knew the pistol was widely used by the SAS for many of those eighty due to its reliability, stopping power and ease in concealment.

Despite himself and the hostile scenario, he couldn't help but get a kick out of seeing the legendary weapon in real life. He felt an almost detached fascination with what was unfolding and he hoped the calm look on his face would help his friends stay strong.

The weapon had a different effect on Paulo altogether and he stood stock-still, paralysed by the memory of being shot.

The pain had been like nothing he had ever felt, he thought that maybe he would die from pain alone. The crude device of metal pointed at his friends scarred him more then he ever thought possible, he thought of Li and how much he cared for her. His thoughts of her or any of the others in that kind of pain felt like a cement block on his chest crushing the air out of him.

This block got heavier as he opened his eyes to look at his friends and realised that Li was not with them.

* * *

><p>Li had turned at the sudden crash as the door to the room imploded, concealed by the curtains, she had resisted the impulse to run into the room as she saw the guns in the men's hands. Peeking through the gap in the curtains, she watched in horror as her friends were torn from their beds and roughly pushed into the bathroom.<p>

Li considered her options and with an impending sense of dread decided to wait and see if she would be discovered.

* * *

><p>Amber was frantically trying to keep up with the gunman's conversation; it was a dialect similar to Swahili and she could understand most of it because of the extensive language study she had been doing over the past few years. It was made all the more difficult by the bounding in her chest, as she tried to fight her fear. The man who appeared to be in charge was snapping at the other two as he waved his gun over the teens huddled together on the floor.<p>

While she may have not understood the meaning of every word the intention was clear; this was an organised death squad and they intended to kill the five teens.

"Please we don't know what you want, can you just let us go?" Amber pleaded in their language, finally recognising it and remembering that it was one of the main dialects of Solambia.

The smaller of the three, a wiry, wild looking man turned to her in fury, shouting and roughly slapping her to the ground with his free hand.

Ambers face stung and she felt tears flowing, as Hex pulled her in close and she once again tried to focus on the argument that was happening in front of them. She was confused; the leader kept saying something about four not five but the rest of the conversation was lost on her.

Suddenly something in her head clicked and she realised they were talking about the absence of Li from the room. They hadn't executed the friends yet because they couldn't find the last member of their group. Li had been out on the balcony when Amber had gotten into bed; maybe she was still there now. She hazarded a glance in that direction and thought she saw a shimmer of movement through the gap in the curtains.

Her heart leapt in her chest, but was promptly stomped flat again when she translated the lead gunman's order to search their room.

* * *

><p>Li saw the biggest of the three leave the bathroom and close the door, he proceeded to search the cupboards before heading towards the balcony. Li froze in her hiding place on the ledge to the right of the door, she would remain unseen if the man just looked out the door, but if he actually came out then she was history. She jerked back involuntarily, as the man drew the curtains and knocked against the ceramic hanging basket of dead flowers by her head.<p>

Li held her breath as the movement went unnoticed and the man moved to the door handle, sliding the glass door open with ease.

She was moments from being spotted and knew she had to act, so she unhitched the ceramic pot plant from its hook on the ceiling. Swinging it single-handed like a flail she connected with her opponents gun hand, the pot shattering, causing the man to grunt and knocking the weapon from his grasp.

Instinctively Li's hand closed around the collar of his jacket at the same time her other grabbed the now empty arm. Utilising all the momentum she could, she swung into his body sliding her arm across from his collar around to his shoulder, as she turned into him. Dropping to her knees she finished the execution of a perfect Ippon Seio Nage shoulder throw.

The killers weight rolled across Li's shoulders and for a moment he seemed suspended horizontally in midair, before time speed up and he was thrown from his feet over the edge of the balcony. His muted scream of terror was only just audible to Li standing on the balcony, as was the muffled thump his body made upon impact.

Li's breath caught in her throat as she realised what she had just done. She sat down hard against the low wall, trying to start breathing again and forget the horrible scream that signalled the abrupt end of a man's life.

* * *

><p>Back in the bathroom Hex noticed the remaining two men becoming more and more agitated until finally one of them opened the door, poked his head out and yelled something loudly at the third. Through the momentary open door Hex noticed two things on the ground at the edge of the balcony; the first was a broken flowerpot that he recognised from earlier, the second was the ugly black pistol the searching man had carried. Instantly comprehending what must have happened, he nudged Alex and whispered to the group.<p>

"Li has taken out one of the men. We need to do something soon before they find out."

Alex nodded and hissed to the group "You're right Hex. She might not get lucky twice if they decide to investigate their friends absence. We have to stop them."

"But what can we do? They are armed Alex and look like they mean business." Paulo moaned desperately.

"If I distract them, do you think we can take them out?" Amber asked her friends.

"We've got to try" Hex nodded resolutely.

"Okay then on my signal" Alex muttered sounding braver then he felt.

Amber edged her way to the other side of the bathroom and took a steadying breath.

"Hey, I need to use the toilet" She loudly moaned to the two men.

Both men whirled in fury to face Amber, exposing their backs to Hex, Paulo and Alex.

"Now!" Alex shouted and the boys surged forward at their distracted assailants, while Amber dived for the safety of the bathtub.

* * *

><p>Hex and Alex caught the leader unprepared; Hex crash tackled him in around the legs rugby style, bringing him to the ground and Alex reached for the weapon. The pistol went off in his hand and Alex was deafened by the noise and shock of it in such close confines, but hung on to the gun arm trying desperately to steer it away from his friends.<p>

As the other boys attacked their man, Paulo screwed up his face in concentration and threw every ounce of his strength into a punch aimed at the small wild gunman. His fist connected with the side of his opponents' head as he had whirled to face Amber and caused him to stumble to his knee. Ignoring the pain that lanced through his hand and the hammering in his chest, Paulo pressed his advantage following up with another punch, this time to the wrist of the hand holding the gun. The man cried out and opened his hand in reflex to the blow, Paulo kicked the gun out of his reach and roughly shoved the small man forward off balance onto his face.

Things were not going so well for Hex and Alex.

The angry leader had swung back hard with an elbow that connected with Hex's nose, knocking the boy off of his opponent with a shout. Alex heard Hex cry out just as he swung the leaders hand down on the corner of the washbasin as hard as he could, busting the gun from his grip with a sickening crunch.

Hex stumbled back and dropped to a knee, his vision blurred and blood streaming from his nose, trying to clear his reeling head enough to get back into the fight. With an angry howl the gunman managed to push Alex away from him and stand up clutching his injured hand.

His cold eyes glared at Alex as the teen leapt to his feet, to face the dangerous man.

* * *

><p>Paulo sat heavily astride the fuming ex-gunman, tying his hands together behind his back with his own belt when the man bucked, causing him to spill forward onto the ground, hitting his head on the wall. Drawing an evil looking blade from his boot, the little man smiled a wicked smile and pounced towards a dazed Paulo.<p>

The knife swung backwards in an arch above his head before he began to plunge it down towards Paulo's chest.

Paulo closed his eyes in horror.

The blades progress was interrupted, as the assailant was violently knocked sideways from Paulo and crumpled in a heap.

"That's what he gets for hitting a woman" Amber exclaimed sassily, one hand on her hip the other holding the now unconscious man's fallen pistol, which she used to club him with.

"Thanks" Paulo said shakily, as she helped him to his feet and they turned to see Alex duck a swing from his opponent and retaliate with a sharp stomp-kick to the leaders knee. His opponent screamed in rage and pain as his knee buckled underneath him and his next blow caught Alex in the stomach with a lot less strength then was intended.

The blow was still enough to knock the wind from the boy, who staggered back from his opponent gasping, which allowed Hex enough space to close the distance instead.

With blood still steadily dripping from his nose, Hex lunged forward and struck out with swift elbow, putting all his power into the shot, his vision a red haze of anger. The blow connected with his opponents jaw, Hex felt the jarring impact turn the man's head to a side and watched the eyes lose focus, as the leader was finally put out for the count.

* * *

><p>Li came sprinting into the bathroom to see her battered and bruised friends standing in the aftermath of what had been an epic battle that had left the bathroom completely destroyed. Blood stained the cracked tiles and a shattered mirror hung crookedly on one wall, devastated by the earlier gunshot. A slow, gurgling, snore was coming from the man that Amber had dropped and the opponent Hex had just hit lay unnaturally, slumped face first against the wall.<p>

Alex wheezing "We've got to get out of here now" cut the emotional reunion of the five friends short. Alpha force leapt into action, packed their bags in record speed and two minutes later were all in the hallway heading for the elevators.

"Wait" Li realised "We can't leave out the front there might be more people waiting there and the man who fell might have caused a bit of a commotion."

"Was that what happened to the man you fought Li?" Paulo softly asked her, as the group climbed down the fire escape at the back of the old building.

"He fell. Lets just leave it at that okay Paulo." Li whispered guardedly, hiding her eyes from his.

Paula gave her a hand a little squeeze and they dropped down into the alley by the hotel.

"Where do we go now?" Amber scowled looking at the rest of the bedraggled group. "We can't stay here that's for sure."

Hex stared back at her intently, having just finished wiping dried blood from swollen nose. "Isn't it obvious?" he drawled.

"Camilla" Alex whispered

Amber rolled her eyes but then turned to the others seriously

"Wait, are we going to be putting her in danger by going to her?"

"No Alex is right" Paula affirmed, "She may already be in danger. If they came after us, they almost certainly went for her too."

"That means she may be in danger right now then" Li quickly blurted out.

"What are we waiting for then?" Alex demanded, "Lets get a cab."

Amber flagged down a dusty looking Egyptian taxi.

"Ok where does Camilla live then?" she asked climbing in the back.

Alex flushed red, "Well she might have told me about her place here in Cairo once or twice" he muttered, "I think I can remember the address."

"Told you about her place or invited you to her place _amigo_?" Paulo teased with a massive grin on his face, wondering if being so close to death made you giddy.

The cab was rocked with joyous laughter as five friends, happy to be alive, took off down the twisting streets of Cairo.


	7. Chapter 7

It was only a ten-minute trip to Camilla's place but already most of Alpha force was asleep by the time they arrived. In the back Amber's head rested on Hex's shoulder and his head drooped over onto hers with fatigue, Li had opted to lie across the other passengers in the back and use Paulo, who was snoring gently, for a pillow.

Alex felt wide-awake in the front seat, running over everything that had happened and replaying the violence of the afternoon in his head. He wondered if it was the adrenaline or just the relief of surviving that had caused their outbreak of laughter at the start of their journey and their sudden crash now. Alex was just so relieved that he and his friends had gotten away unscathed that he wanted to hold onto the warm feeling.

Eating away at this warmth was worry about their new friend Camilla; she seemed so tough and independent but Alex felt sure that there was more to it then that. Regardless, he didn't like the idea that they may have put her in danger and he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to her.

Alpha Force was filled with a sense of dread when they stepped out of the taxi onto the quiet residential street that was Camilla's. An expensive car they didn't recognise was parked outside the flat; its engine was still ticking as it cooled beside Camilla's rented van.

"Hurry. They can't have been here long," Hex whispered as the five friends crept up to the nearest window.

* * *

><p>Camilla had dropped off Alpha Force at their hotel before driving back to her home in the suburbs, the whole drive home she couldn't help but think about Alex and what he had said to her. The argument he presented was fair but that wasn't it. When she thought about it she realised that for the first time in such a long time she actually felt a connection with anybody despite a difference of one or two years. She felt like she was free to be herself around him and this group of friends who called themselves Alpha force. No more hiding behind the hardened shell she had developed since…<p>

This line of thought brought her back to herself and wondering what she was doing in such a dangerous job, maybe she should consider finding a nice man and settling down like her grandparents constantly urged her. She smiled a secret smile as she unlocked her door, thinking about a certain nice young man she had recently met who was maybe settling material.

After a long shower and changing into a tracksuit Camilla felt a lot more human and had just came out of her bedroom when she saw the man standing in her living room. Her gasp caught in her throat as her eyes jumped first to the stump on the side of his head and second to the gleaming machete he held in his large hand.

The Hyena smiled a menacing smile as he witnessed her terror.

"I'm sorry should I have knocked before letting myself in?" he asked in a cold voice.

Camilla felt her breaths coming in short gasps, this man was a cold calculated killer and he was in her house, which could only mean one thing.

"Lomada says that there will be no aid for the villages who oppose his leadership." His chilling voice continued.

"They are people" Camilla cried in outrage, forgetting the imminent danger she was in for a moment, "and they are dying because of his so called leadership."

The smile vanished from the Hyena's face as he advanced on her, "It is none of your business how we run our country" he snarled fiercely.

* * *

><p>From the window a horrified Alpha Force had watched, as the Hyena started moving towards Camilla.<p>

"We've got to do something," Amber whispered in stony anger.

"But what? He will kill her if we just bust in there." Hex retorted

Alex sighed his face hidden in the shadows, "I've got a plan, it's not great but it is all I can think of to stop him."

"Li and Amber you go round to the front door you are in charge of getting Camilla out. Paulo I need you to go and get the van, hotwire it if you have to, we need it ready for a rapid extraction. Hex you're with me we are going in the back and creating a distraction."

Moving quickly the group got into position.

At the back door Hex whispered to Alex "How exactly do you plan on distracting this guy Alex?"

An odd look crossed Alex's face as he turned to answer his friends question by simply drawing the knife he always carried from its sheath and tilting his head towards it.

Hex's jaw dropped and he starred incredulously at his friend.

"A-Alex can you do that?" Hex stammered.

"I hit that snake all right back in the Sahara" Alex answered with a wry smile that didn't quite seem to make it up to eyes.

Hex narrowed his stare at his friend. "You know that's not what I meant. I mean are you going to be alright with actually... hitting.. a person with that?"

Alex looked away from his friend not wanting to meet his gaze "It's the only way I can think of to stop him from hurting her, I've got to do it." He whispered in a level voice.

Hex finally nodded his head in agreement, "It's to save someone you're right, what do you want me to do?" he said softly placing a hand on Alex's shoulder.

Alex looked up at his friend grateful for understanding "I just need you to pick the lock for me so I can get in quietly mate."

Hex nodded again got out his tool kit and quickly got to work, seconds later the last tumbler fell into place allowing Alex into the house.

"Aim true" Hex whispered to the blond boy as he stealthily slipped into the house.

* * *

><p>Camilla cowered as far back against the wall as she could, terrified as the killer kept coming towards her. The pretty woman shrunk her slender frame away as he stopped right in front of her, his rancid breath choking her as he leaned in close pushing her up against the wall with his sweaty body. She shuddered in horror as she felt his free hand caress its way up from her hip and he hissed in her ear with a sinister smile.<p>

"You should have stayed out of this little girl because now you are in real trouble."

His hand reached her throat and she cried out as she felt the cold steel of his machete as he pressed the blade up to her neck.

The back door opened into the kitchen and Alex silently padded in, he could hear the Hyena in the next room and knew he must move quickly. He closed his eyes for a second to take a deep breath shutting out his thoughts, his doubts and his fears. With a hand gripping his trusty knife by its weathered blade and a familiar detached feeling of calm, Alex stepped out of cover.

Camilla closed her eyes tight a single tear escaping down her bronzed cheek and waited for the pressure on her neck to suddenly increase and bring an end to her life. As if by a miracle though a strong familiar voice rung out

"Leave her alone"

The pressure on her throat instantly disappeared as the Hyena whirled around with a snarl.

The predator turned from his prey to see a sandy haired youth standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He laughed at the audacity of being disturbed by a boy and stepped away from the girl letting her slump to the floor.

"Brave words my young friend-" the killer began only to be cut off by the boys' sudden movement, a flash of his arm.

He hadn't noticed the knife in the youth's grip until he looked down and saw it embedded in his stomach. He looked down in amazement as a red wave started creeping out from hilt and dying his t-shirt, his machete clattered to the ground and he stumbled forward to his knees. As the room began to blur he could only watch as his potential victim was pulled to her feet by two other teenagers and hustled out of the room.

The boy who had thrown the knife still stood exactly where he was, a hard look in his eyes that seemed to melt into a look of shock and horror. Alex stood a moment longer, staring at the man he had stabbed, before Hex grabbed him and dragged him out of the house and bundled him into the back of the awaiting van.


	8. Chapter 8

Somehow Alex found himself seated in the back of the moving van with Li eyeing him carefully and wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, in a daze he looked to his side and saw Camilla similarly garbed. His head seemed to be ringing like when the gunshot went off in the hotel room earlier, the whole world passed in front of his eyes in slow time, greyed and muted. The last thing he could remember was creeping into the flat and throwing his knife at the Hyena, everything after that seemed foggy.

He closed his eyes willing the images to stop.

* * *

><p>In the front Amber Hex and Paulo were engaged in a heated discussion.<p>

"What the hell happened in there Hex?" Paulo demanded quietly trying to divide his attention between driving and looking at Alex worriedly in the mirror.

"Throwing his knife at the Hyena was Alex's idea of distracting him so we could rescue Camilla." Amber replied through gritted teeth, conflicted on how she felt about the decision. She was almost giddy with the relief at rescuing their friend unharmed but at the same time shocked at seeing Alex's solution and the current state it had reduced him to.

Paulo turned to Hex suspiciously "Did you know that was what he had planned Hex?"

Hex hesitated for a second, the discussion between him and Alex still mulling in his head, before nodding his head resolutely.

Amber couldn't hide her shock

"You knew?" she shrieked at him "And you let him go through with it anyway?"

Hex finally found his voice and brokenly confessed " He told me just before we entered, I didn't like the idea either but honestly I couldn't see another way. I still can't." he shook his head sadly.

Paulo spoke up before things could get even more heated "What is done is done we can't go back. We have got to think about the now." He leaned on the steering wheel "and right now we need to figure out where to go and what to do."

Amber gave Hex one last hard stare before looking away; it hurt Hex to have her look at him like that, like a physical pain in his chest.

"We need to find a small hotel in a quiet part of the city to lay low and plan our next move." He suggested quietly.

Paulo nodded his head enthusiastically. "A safe anonymous place where we can get some rest"

"And some food" Amber pitched in thinking back to her requirement for regular meals.

"Alright sounds like a plan" Paulo grinned.

"One last thing though" Hex warned "we are going to need to ditch the van before we get there. It's something our enemies can look for to find us."

Paulo and Amber shared a look and nodded in solemn agreement.

* * *

><p>It took Alpha force approximately thirty minutes to find a cheap hotel to stay in and a dark alley a few blocks away to abandon the van.<p>

On her bed in the girls shared room of the new hotel Camilla smiled to herself looking down at the clothes she had borrowed from Amber. They were very stylish and probably cost more then she paid for her flat. Not like her at all she decided. Camilla was more a desert boots, singlet and cargo shorts kind of girl, just luckily her and Amber cut a similar figure she thought looking down at the expensive jeans. _Well for pants anyway_ she corrected herself bitterly as she tugged at the hundred-dollar top that was uncomfortably tight across her chest.

There was a knock on her door and the girls turned to spy Paulo at the door flashing his extravagant smile; beside him Hex and Alex were carrying plastic bags full of white takeout containers.

"Hey _chicas_ we've got dinner and we are all eating in the our room if you want to join us?"

"About time" Amber mumbled grumpily climbing off her bed.

Camilla just nodded with a small smile and followed Amber and Li down the hallway. She couldn't help but notice Alex; quieter then usual with a distant look on his face and taking up the rear of the group.

They all sat down around the table and started helping themselves to portions of the rich food that the boys had picked up from a street vendor around the corner.

They ate in relative silence and it was Camilla who eventually spoke for the first time since her rescue.

"I can't thank you all enough for saving me back there," she said quietly keeping her eyes on her food.

Ignoring the embarrassed looks from the others Paulo gave his million-dollar grin again and suavely answered

"Don't mention it we never mind helping a pretty damsel in distress. Right Alex?" He added with a wink.

The joke had its desired effect helping to relax the tense atmosphere at the table and getting a smile from everyone, even Alex who had been the target.

Alex lifted his head from his plate and his friends were relieved to see life in the young mans eyes and a less troubled expression cross his face briefly before it was swallowed by the shadow he had been wearing all evening.

Camilla was especially glad to see this change come over him and had been worried about him since her rescue, the look on his face after he had thrown the knife had frightened her a little. Her blue eyes met his across the table and she threw him a small smile that he returned before speaking.

"I'm glad you're okay Camilla. We should be safe here tonight."

"I do feel safe with you guys," Camilla admitted, almost ashamed. "It's because of that I want to ask you if you still willing to go with me to Solambia in a days time?"

The five friends shared a look among themselves before Amber piped up.

"We'd love to go Camilla that's if you still want to go after what happened today."

Camilla closed her eyes with a shudder trying to forget the smell and touch of the killer who had come so close. She frowned deeply and opened her eyes to stare at the teenagers with hard look.

"No, it's just as important, maybe more so now, that we do it. Lomada tried to stop us helping these people but we can't just stand by and let him starve the population that doesn't agree with him."

Hex smiled at the look of passion that crossed her face as she talked _I can see why Alex might fancy her. _

Alex also found himself smiling he had indeed been caught by her passionate speech and couldn't help but answer on Alpha Force's behalf.

"Ok it's sorted we go."

* * *

><p>The next day was spent recovering from the events of the last twenty-four hours and preparing for the mission onto foreign soil. Woken at noon by the intense heat Alpha Force busied themselves sorting their belongings for the journey ahead.<p>

Camilla was out at the market buying clothes since she was unable to take any from her place before they left and Amber was getting sick of sharing.

Li leaned against her bed checking the condition of the harnesses and ropes they would be rappelling in with on the following day, beside her Amber was poring over maps of the region they were inserting into. Both girls glanced up occasionally to worriedly glance at Alex who was still withdrawn.

Hex was sitting on the windowsill in an attempt to negate the heat as he surfed through pages of information about the country and it's forces, he was slowly building up a better picture of the broken country and the secretive man who ran it.

Next to Hex, Paulo was reading through the paramedic textbook from his bag he was focussing on infectious diseases and malnutrition as the two most likely conditions he would encounter with the local populace. He no longer felt the need to flick to the more exciting pages filled with trauma and gore. He had been there.

By himself in the corner Alex double and triple checked his survival kit before returning it to his belt, his hand running sadly over his empty knife sheath. He felt unprepared going into a survival situation without his trusty knife, like a part of him was missing.

To distract himself he grabbed his Bergen to check over the demolition kit that kept in the top pouch, he was relieved to see that the plastic explosives hadn't sweated in the Egyptian heat. He quickly tested the detonator and ensured there was plenty of Det chord before packing it up again and replacing it into its top pocket.

Alpha force jumped to their feet ready to fight as the door suddenly swung open.

* * *

><p>Camilla stood in the doorway overburdened by bags with an apologetic look on her face "Sorry" she mumbled, "I would have knocked but I don't have a spare hand."<p>

Paulo and Alex immediately dropped what they were doing to help the girl with her bags, taking a couple each and placing them by Camilla's bed.

"Thanks guys" she smiled appreciatively, brushing a golden lock from her face. "Oh and Alex the small black bag is for you."

Surprised, Alex looked down at the small bag he had been about to place on the ground.

"What is it?" he asked curious, turning to face her.

Her mysterious smile gave nothing away.

"It's a surprise. You'll just have to open it and see now won't you?"

Alex nodded and reached into the bag cautiously; he felt his hand close around a narrow rectangular box about a foot long.

He withdrew the suspiciously heavy box, which was revealed to be black and silver, as his friends gathered around to see what Alex's new acquisition was.

Lifting the lid away his eyes widened with amazement and excitement as he caught sight of the object nestled in between black foam in the bottom of the box. It was the most beautiful knife he had ever seen, as black as midnight with a six-inch carbon steel blade and a Grivory handle.

His friends gasped as he lifted it out of the foam and Alex felt his hand close comfortably around it's handle and turn the deadly blade over as he inspected it. It seemed to have a coating that repelled the light and the only mark on the single edged blade was a light engraving near the base that read Cold Steel.

Hex nodded to himself looking at the knife, it seemed the perfect knife for Alex; nothing fancy, just a nondescript, simple fixed blade, stained so it would blend in and extremely sharp.

Alex felt breathless as he looked up at Camilla completely lost for words, she met his wide eyes looking a little embarrassed.

"I know how much your knife meant to you so I felt like I just had to find you another one"

"I.. It.. It's perfect" Alex stammered as he stared at her hard, watching her hips sway mesmerising as she slowly walked towards him.

"That's not all of my thank you present" Camilla warned.

The rest of Alpha Force suddenly realised they had an important job to do next door and swiftly ducked out of the room, huge grins plastered to their faces.

Alex's breath caught in his chest as Camilla stopped centimetres away from him, she raised an eyebrow coyly at him and slowly sunk to her knees. She smiled to herself as she felt the boys whole body seize up as she took hold of his belt. Alex snapped to look down at the flower of silky blond hair his whole face feeling hot, carefully holding his new knife out of the way.

He felt a sudden snap as Camilla jumped back up with his belt in her hands.

"It comes with its own special sheath" she whispered tilting her head with an amused expression as she slid the black Kevlar sheath onto his belt and handed it back to him.

Feeling how red his face had suddenly gone Alex quickly dropped his gaze from Camilla's face, finding his view dominated by her tight low cut top instead. Blushing further and feeling like an idiot he turned his attention to putting his belt back on.

"Thank you" He finally said in a low voice,

"No thank you Alex... What you did back there.." Camilla started earnestly as she pulled him into a tight hug, a familiar warmth spreading down her body as his arm reached around her waist.

"Alex?" He suddenly heard Amber call impatiently from the doorway, shattering their tender moment "Quit fooling around in there we got to get going already."

Poking her head around the corner Amber smiled mischievously as she watched the two teenagers spring apart hurriedly from their embrace, the memory of her soft form pressed against him burning in Alex's blush. 

_Ha I knew it, _Amber thought triumphantly to herself _Hex totally owes me twenty bucks_.


	9. Chapter 9

"Okay so lets go over this one more time to make sure we got it." Amber spoke loudly into the microphone at her throat, trying to be heard over the thrum of the rotors above them.

Camilla nodded and gestured for everyone to lean in over the map that was displayed on Hex's palmtop.

It was the following day and Alpha force was aboard a UN Iroquois inbound for their landing zone (LZ) in Solambia.

Everyone had to wear noise-cancelling earphones and used an internal microphone system to communicate with each other within the helicopter, since it was impossible to compete with the noisy engine.

The friends gathered around the small glowing screen; it showed large regions of red around the perimeter of the country with an area in the middle shaded green. As Hex had explained earlier; the area in the red represented area that was known to be under the direct control of the army, this area included the capital of Lomadia, while the green was the more rural part of the country with scattered villages and a greater population.

A blue marker right on the fringe of the red and the green, represented their landing zone or LZ where the helicopter would quickly drop them, before returning back the way it came to get to Egypt.

"Because of fuel and safety considerations for the helicopter, this LZ is the furthest we can be dropped into the country" Camilla explained, looking around at the alert faces of her friends, who hung off her words.

"From here we need to cover approximately twenty kms or Klicks, due north to reach this small village here" she traced her finger up the map to a second blue marker, designated waypoint Bravo.

"Here we rendezvous with our contact in the village and leave in a vehicle they have organised for us to use. We would use our trucks but frankly, we can only afford to airdrop resources in at this stage."

Li smiled at the idea of being called a resource of the UN.

* * *

><p>Alex took over the final operations brief clearing his throat. "Once mobile we will navigate our way around the green zone, picking up routine UN supply drops and delivering these much needed supplies to the isolated rural communities. " He glanced up at his friends uncertainly, "any questions at this stage?"<p>

"How long can we expect to be doing these supply runs for Alex?" Amber asked carefully. She noticed that Alex still had a slightly drawn look about him, but at least his gaze looked focussed on the task at hand.

Looking across at Camilla, she met his eyes discretely and nodded.

Alex sighed and looked around at his best friends in the world. "We have a relief and extraction plan organised for a weeks time and hopefully by then the UN is also able to launch a larger operation. At the moment they are having to scramble resources from neighbouring countries because of the Cairo airport bombing. "

Paulo spoke up "Alex what are we providing in the way of medical care for the people we meet?"

Camilla answered his question "In addition to delivering much needed food and water, any basic medical care we can provide the local populace is encouraged, but obviously limited within our time constraints."

Paulo nodded, seemingly satisfied and turned to gaze out the open side door, unsure whether he was prepared for the suffering they might face. What if it was like back at the airport, where there had been so many people badly in need of aid and they weren't able to provide it? Paulo hated the feeling of weakness he felt back there, under equipped and under trained for what occurred. It was an odd feeling he realised, if his friends hadn't been there he would have almost given up in desperation.

He needed them to stay strong, just as much as they depended on him to do the same.

"Guys" Alex addressed them seriously, snapping Paulo from his thoughts, "The tactical situation at the moment is extremely precarious, it is vital to the success of this mission that we avoid any contact with the army. It is for this reason we are flying so high over Solambian airspace at the moment, while they do not have radar we are trying to stay out of sight."

"Sneaking in the back huh?" Hex wryly commented, as the group relaxed back into their seats, the mission briefing complete. He watched the sky zip past, his boots seemingly hanging suspended in space. The decision to let Alex enter the house still weighed heavily on Hex's mind and he felt like he had let the team down. Firstly, he should never have allowed his friend to take on such a burden and secondly, he should have been able to come up with an alternative. 

_You're the smart one the one who sees patterns the others miss,_ his mind screamed at him, _you should have found a way that didn't require Alex to kill a man._

"We are fifteen minutes out" Amber shouted into her mic, having caught a signal from their pilot in the front.

* * *

><p>Alex decided to check over his kit once more to ensure it was all in order, a nervous habit, as he tried to focus on the mission at hand.<p>

Paulo stared around the metal cabin, admiring the beast of a machine that diced its way through the sky towards their destination. _While it might not be the most comfortable mode of transport, _he thought as he looked at the canvas jump seats the group sat on, _it is a very reliable vehicle. _

Like Hex, Li also stared out the window into the abyss. Seeing the open empty air caused the tableau from earlier to resurface in her, a man falling away from her in terror, hurtling towards the unforgiving concrete. _Oh god I killed a man, _she realised desolately. _I've pushed another man to his death_ she corrected herself, remembering the Scorpion and the well. In her mind there was no question that they had both been evil men, but did that make it right?

She thought back to the concept of Bushido; the Japanese way of the warrior she had adopted with her martial arts, it promoted the close relationship between life and death. Thinking of it like that made her feel a bit better; theoretically since they had tried to kill her, they had faced each other as warriors and she had simply emerged as the greater combatant. It would also justify her killing of those evil men, as acting in a manner to ensure her survival and that of the others. 

_No shame or dishonour in that, _she concluded, finally feeling her inner peace return.

Amber turned to the blond girl next to her, who was staring out the cargo door with a distant look in her eyes.

"So what's your story Camilla, how did you get in with the UN?" she probed.

Camilla turned to the contrasting girl, considering whether to respond, before flashing her a slow smile

"Well I was born and grew up in Sierra Leone with my parents, they were a doctor and a teacher who brought health and education to the poorest areas. I fell in love with Africa and the outdoors as we moved around, going where my parents felt needed and I slowly picked up the different languages as I travelled. My parents did so much good for the country, I couldn't imagine doing anything else when I grew up."

Her smile vanished suddenly replaced with a hard stare "When they were killed by local militia, I was 14 and that just fired me up more. I decided right then that I wanted to try and help the people held prisoner in their own countries by the grip of violence and oppression." Her voice remained steady but she discretely looked away to hide a tear in her eye.

Li was speechless and it was finally Amber who put her hand on Camilla's shoulder and whispered "That's horrible Camilla, that must have been so difficult." Ambers voice cracked, clutching her necklace "My parents died when I was young too, also doing something they believed in."

The three girls folded into a hug as the boys watched quietly and the pitch on the helicopters roaring lowered.

"That explains a lot" Hex mused, as if he was putting more pieces of a puzzle together.

Before Alex had a chance to comment, a harsh chattering and a whirlwind of sparks on the deck made him jump.

"Get down, Get down!" He screamed, realising the cause "We are taking fire!"

* * *

><p>Bullets tore against the metal hull of the helicopter, ricocheting and whirring away, as lines of pockmarks began to appear along the sides and undercarriage. The pilot gritted his teeth in frustration trying to dodge the incoming rounds hammering into them upon their descent.<p>

In the back of the rig, six teenagers had climbed from their seats and braced themselves against the doors or lay flat on the floor.

Looking up from his position behind the front ledge of the cargo door, Paulo gasped in horror when he saw ragged holes start appearing in the glass canopy. His blood froze when he heard a scream, as the pilot was hit by incoming rounds and without thinking twice, he squeezed through the narrow gap into the cockpit.

From the floor, Hex saw his Argentinean friend rush to the cockpit at the same time the helicopter jolted and started to drop. Realisation dawned on the hacker's face and he leapt to his feet to assist his friend.

Amber screamed in terror, sliding across the floor towards the door, as the helicopter tilted dangerously sideways. Catching hold of Li's outstretched hand, she slowed to the edge, her feet kicking wildly out into space. Camilla grabbed her other hand and between the two girls they managed to grapple Amber back into the tilting helicopter, seconds before a line of welts opened up in the metal where she had been lying.

Paulo roughly pushed the pilot aside with no time to treat his fatal wound; he clutched the cyclic and drew back, which to his great relief lifted the nose of the ailing bird. Hex brushed past him into the empty co-pilots seat, as the helicopter continued to lose height and begin to roll and pitch more violently.

"Do you think you can fly it?" He yelled at their new pilot.

Paulo shook his head sadly "No it's too late and she's too banged up, but I think I can slow us down." His face set in grim determination, "But I'll need you help, you control the pitch. We need to perform an auto-rotation, you know it?" he asked.

"Yeah. In theory." Hex answered somewhat hesitantly. _M__y years of video games are about to finally pay off, _ he thought before returning to the task at hand.

* * *

><p>In the back, the girls huddled behind their window and Alex was finally able to get a glimpse of what was shooting at them. 300 metres below them, parked up on an empty dirt road was a single pickup truck, referred to as a Technical because of the machine gun that was mounted in the rear tray. Its reign of fire was at a temporary halt, while two dark-skinned men in khakis hurriedly tried to load a new belt of ammunition into the 7.62mm chambered, automatic weapon.<p>

Alex's mind went into overdrive.

"We have to do something to stop that gun," He yelled at the other three over the chaos.

It was Camilla who thought of it and started picking up jerry cans of fuel and other lose items and hurling them out the open door. Alex nodded in agreement as they all joined in. "Everything but our packs" he screamed and watched as a tool kit hurtled to the ground, missing the Technical by metres.

In the cockpit, Paulo noticed the lightening of the vehicle and his eyes flicked away momentarily, as he saw a chain and strop swing out of their side door. _At least the others are keeping busy, _he thought grimly, as the chopper continued to lose height at an alarming rate.

They were running out of things to throw when Li noticed that as they dropped, they were drifting closer to the Technical. With a final toss from Amber, the only thing left was the seats and stretcher frame they had all been sitting on before things turned sour. With a wild look in her eye, Li started to undo the clips that held the chairs to the ground, the others quickly got her idea and crouched down to help.

Seconds later the machine gun started up spewing out hot lead again and the final clip was released on the chairs. Amber, Camilla and Alex held the chair by the door until Li, who was aiming, gave them the thumbs up. As one they slid the sturdy frame out of the open door, where it was quick to build up velocity. It came to a crunching halt, as it plummeted straight onto the rear of the technical, silencing the machine gun and crushing its two operators.

The cheering in the back was quickly changed to screams of terror, as the ground rushed up quickly at the doomed chopper.

The ailing vehicle careened dangerously; smoke pouring from numerous holes while it rapidly lost altitude.

"Everyone hang on!" Hex shouted from the front.

Touch down.


	10. Chapter 10

Amber had closed her eyes seconds before the landing, her last thoughts hoping that Hex was going to be alright in the cockpit. Her eyes were rocked open by the sudden impact. It was like nothing she had ever experienced, it felt like the world was ending as the chaos of bending metal assaulted her ears and a shock that jarred every bone in her body tumbled her through the skeleton of the rig.

The sound of the tail rotor crumpling was Paulo's first clue the helicopter had hit the ground, the autorotation that Hex and he had executed had slowed it a lot, but they still hit the ground extremely hard. He felt the skids splinter under the bulk and velocity of the chopper and he tried to protect his head, as he was flung out the shattered canopy.

Li clutched Camilla tightly, as the pair was tossed into the hold of the helicopter when it came into contact with the ground. The remaining bags largely cushioned their fall, but the two were still separated by the impact and left dazed. Alex who had been standing beside them at impact, was thrown to the side where he smashed his head against the side of the cargo door and dropped from sight.

* * *

><p>Hex untangled himself from the remains of his cockpit door and climbed out through the shattered canopy, his chest was moist with a large, free flowing cut and he felt battered and bruised all over. He absently pressed a hand to his bleeding chest and turned back to face the wreckage. Hex noticed movement in the cargo hold and his eyes caught sight of Alex, climbing to his feet on the nearest side of the chopper. Rubbing his head dizzily the Northumbrian staggered over to Hex.<p>

"Are you alright mate?" He asked, sounding a little groggy.

"A few bumps and scrapes nothing major" Hex drawled back " Is everyone else okay?"

"Camilla and me are still alive" Li hollered from the cargo hold, "Sore but alive" she amended eyeing the other girl clutching her knee, bent in pain.

"Can you stay put for five minutes while Hex and me find Paulo and Amber?" Alex called back, his head aching from the effort.

"Yea okay, we will try and sort our remaining gear then" Li shouted back over a grunt of pain.

The boys heard Amber before they saw her, the bitter cursing drawing them to a patch of scraggly bushes on the opposite site of the crash. She was caught up in a large thorny bush, her bare arms and legs a patchwork of scratches, her clothes hopelessly tangled and a pissed off scowl on her face.

"Well don't just stand there" she bellowed at the two boys indignantly, "Get me out of this bloody thing."

Her yelling seemed to aggravate the pounding headache Alex had woken up from the crash with, wincing he drew his brand new blade and held it out to Hex.

"Are you ok getting her out of there?" he asked seriously, keeping the knifes handle hovered over Hex's hand.

"Yea I'm good" Hex assured him, "and don't worry I won't lose your knife."

Handing the blade over with a final deadpan look, Alex staggered off to find the missing South American.

He spotted the dark haired youth limping towards him from the direction of the cargo hold, clutching his side.

"Hey" Alex yelled to him, without realising how much it would make his head thump.

Paulo glanced up from his feet to give his slightly strained cowboy grin.

"Hey Amigo, looks like everyone made it huh?" he nodded towards the sound of Ambers cursing at the other side of the wreck.

"Thanks to you and Hex" Alex shot back with a shaky grin.

"We didn't drop a chair on a machine gun" Paulo laughed, cringing suddenly at the pain it caused him.

"We better regroup and assess our injuries" Alex mumbled, looking at his injured friend in concern.

"Ok we'll gather over here" Paulo said, slumping down against a nearby tree in relief.

Alex smiled to himself despite his concern and moved to rouse Li and Camilla.

* * *

><p>Upon stepping into the overturned cargo hold, the first thing Alex noticed was Camilla leaning against one of the walls in obvious pain. His face fell with anxiety, as she looked up upon his approach.<p>

"What's wrong" Alex asked, worry creeping into his voice.

"It's my knee" she grimaced, nodding towards her left leg.

"I think it's dislocated Alex" Li added, perched at girls shoulder, "Should I get Paulo?" she asked nervously.

"Paulo is a bit banged up himself, how are you? Can you go check on him?"

"Yea sure" Li eagerly agreed, "My shoulder is really sore but I don't think it's serious."

She turned and picked her way through the wreckage grabbing Paulo's Bergen as she did so.

Alex turned back to his own patient and before he could stop himself, his eyes were travelling over her long, bronzed legs. _They feel so smooth_ he thought offhandedly, his eyes lingering while he ran his hands up her injured leg til he got to her sore knee. Straight away he noticed the gross abnormality of a large lump that sat on the outside of the knee, he raised his head to speak to her.

"I just need to have a light feel of this lump," he softly said.

Camilla grinned despite the pain, "I bet that's what you tell all the girls" she joked.

Alex forced a nervous smile for her and lightly touched the lump; sure enough it was bone, her patella to be precise.

It was definitely dislocated.

Alex took a deep breath remembering his sports first aid training, "I can fix this," He confidently said to the girl in agony at his feet. "But you are going to have to trust me okay?"

Camilla stared up into his pale, unwavering eyes, _if there's anyone I trust it's him,_ she thought. "Okay I trust you Alex," is all she said.

"Good close your eyes for me, that's a good girl." He whispered, gently grasping her heel in one hand and pausing his other over her abnormal kneecap.

Alex took a deep breath and in one smooth movement straightened her leg at the same time he flicked the kneecap towards the inside of her leg. Camilla screamed for an instant then remarkably most of the pain went away. She peered down nervously to find her two knees looking much the same; one was however starting to swell noticeably though.

"Thank you" she breathed and pulled him down into a tight hug, which for once, Alex didn't mind made his head pound.

* * *

><p>Outside Hex had cut away the last of the bush ensnaring his friend and Amber was finally able to move. Straight away she yanked the boy from London into a constricting embrace, burying her head into his shoulder. Before he could say a thing, Amber had pulled away her hands covered in blood and a shocked look on her face.<p>

"Hex you're bleeding" she whispered, her lip trembling with emotion.

He looked down at her worried expression with his opaque face.

"Oh yea that it's just a scratch," he muttered, disregarding the idea.

"Like hell it is!" She cried, looking in horror at his blood soaked shirt, "Get your shirt off and let me have a look."

Hex sighed to himself, knowing there was no point in arguing and peeled off his shirt, exposing a deep cut about fifteen centimetres long running across his shoulder and onto his chest. Amber gasped at the sight of the chest she quietly adored, marred by the jagged red band that was still slowly oozing blood.

"We've got to find Paulo," she declared softly, as Hex placed a hand on the wound and she led him off to find their friend.

* * *

><p>Li stared at the angry purple mark that stretched across Paulo's lower ribs on his right side. <em>No wonder he looks so sore,<em> she sympathised, gently touching the bruise; she felt bones move in crepitation under the skin.

"Broken" she announced solemnly, admiring the stoic mask he had held while she examined him.

"_Dios_" he spat, "No wonder it hurts so much to move, or talk, or breath."

With a troubled expression he pointed to his Bergen and mumbled "Li, please get me out the stethoscope you got me for my birthday."

Li did as she was asked and withdrew the listening device, the cowboy hat key chain hanging from it jangled as she handed it to him. She liked that he kept it on there, a little joke they shared.

Paulo tested it in his own ears before passing it back to Li "I need you to listen to my breathing and make sure it sounds the same on both sides." He instructed.

Anxiously, Li did as she was told, listening at various points he pointed to on his bare chest. When she was finished she took the buds out of her ears and announced somewhat unsure, "It all sounded the same to me Paulo."

Immensely relieved, Paulo slumped back against the tree. _Good, _he thought, _my lungs must still be intact; it's just the pain making it harder to breath_.

"I demand to look at your shoulder now then Li, I can see it's hurting you." He spoke to her sternly, as a parent would to a child; she had initially refused insisting that he surrendered to the first examination.

Li painfully shrugged her arm out of her sleeve and crouched so he could see it better, as always she felt moved by the caring tender look Paulo had in his eye when he tended to the injured. _Or maybe that was just for me?_ She wondered.

"You have broken your collarbone" He exclaimed almost at once and set about folding a sling from his trauma kit.

"We could use a bandage too, if you got one spare" Amber jibed, helping herself to some gauze over Paulo's shoulder and turning back to Hex who was standing nearby.

"You getting your pilots license anytime soon Paulo?" Hex quipped relieved to see his friend alive.

"That might need stitches Hex" Camilla noted mildly, wincing as she hopped over to the group using Alex as a crutch.

"Looks like we all made it in roughly one piece" Alex stated, looking more then a little relieved.

"Some welcome to the country" Hex muttered darkly, glaring over at the crushed Technical.

"Welcome to Solambia" Amber agreed ominously.

* * *

><p>The ramshackle group gathered around the destroyed Technical with their Bergen's and all the other supplies they were able to procure from the chopper. Two unexploded jerry cans of water and a slightly squashed carton of 24-hour rations had been the result of a short search of the area.<p>

A map was spread out across the bonnet of the ruined truck and the friends were gathered around it. Having used topographical landmarks, Amber had conducted a resection to work out where they had ended up.

Amber pointed to a spot on the map, "Ok this is where we are at the moment and that's where we need to go" Taking the grid bearing, Hex converted it into a magnetic bearing and passed the new number to Amber. Twisting the compass until it was set to their new bearing, she pointed past the group.

"We go that way" She finished decisively, giving Hex an approving nod.

"Ok we've got a direction, order of march?" Camilla asked turning to Alex.

The blond haired boy still seemed a little out of character since the crash, but turned to Amber and asked "You're not too injured from the crash to take point for the start?"

Amber glanced down at the bandages on her bare arms and legs that concealed her multitude of scratches. "Na I'm all good Alex, I'm tough" she drawled nonchalantly.

"Hex are you alright to be her pace setter?" He added with an appreciative grin.

"I'll manage" he nodded, poking his tongue out at Amber who was pretending to be horrified at the prospect.

"Sorted," Alex sighed, "Paulo and Li follow on from them, then you Camilla and I'll be Tail End Charlie."

Paulo chuckled briefly before cringing in pain, it always amused him to hear Alex intermingle the soldiering lingo he picked up off his dad and war books into conversation.

"Yes Sgt" he joked, throwing him a loose salute as the group stepped off.

* * *

><p>They had only been going for less then twenty minutes when Alex gave the two-noted whistle used to get attention in the bush and signalled a halt. He dropped Camilla's arm from around his shoulder, which she had been using as a crutch and took a deep breath. Alex bounded up to the front of the group, his head exploding, he turned to Hex and Amber.<p>

"Look behind you guys" He scolded and they looked back to see Li cradling her injured sides arm, Paulo struggling along looking very short of breath and Camilla heavily limping at the rear.

"I know we are trying to make some ground fast, but we're all pretty beaten up here, you've got to slow it down a bit."

Hex and Amber looked guiltily at each other and nodded.

"A squad only moves as fast as its slowest man." Alex explained, before slowly trotting back to the rear to help Camilla along.

They set off again at a reduced pace, Amber keeping their bearing and Hex counting their paces to measure distance. Hex spoke to Amber's back bobbing along in front of him.

"Hey do you think Alex looked a bit unwell when he stopped us before?"

In front of him, Amber nodded her head and without taking her eyes from the compass and murmured back.

"Definitely. I'm sure he's not letting up on how bad he's feeling, but he looked like he is suffering."

* * *

><p>At the back Alex truly was suffering, he felt terrible. His head felt like it was splitting in two, his stomach was turning and he kept going only for the sake of his friends. He noticed Camilla slowing as her limp became more pronounced, he kept seeing Paulo stumble further ahead and Li seemed to lack her usual grace and agility. Even Amber and Hex at the front seemed to be rapidly slowing.<p>

_We can't keep this up,_ he realised and despite the fact it had only been an hour since he last called a halt, he gave the whistle again and gave the broad facing palm signal to his friends as they turned. This method of communication meant that they greatly reduced the amount of noise they produced when moving and given the tactical situation it was a fair consideration.

Alpha force gathered in together, each hiding their shock at seeing each other so bedraggled.

"Alex we can't go on like this." Camilla finally spoke up, looking at the boy downcast.

"I know. We are too beaten up to make much progress like this, we will stop and make camp here for the night." He decided, watching the fading light in the distance. Relieved, Paulo shrugged off his Bergen and sat down trying to get his breath back. Camilla did the same, stretching her sore leg out; the knee was quite swollen now.

Alex suddenly turned to a nearby tree for support and retched violently, before just as suddenly quietly walking off with a bundle from his Bergen. Li looked quite shocked at this, as did Hex and Amber who shared a look, before the three of them followed after him.

* * *

><p>A pale Alex was busy spreading out a large tan, canvas tarpaulin on a flat piece of ground and knocking in pegs with the back of his knife. He turned as his three friends approached and addressed them in a raspy voice.<p>

"This will be the guys tent, Li the other tent is in your bag and will be for the girls. Find a nice flat piece of earth nearby to set it up."

Puzzled, he looked up to see his three friends silently staring at him.

"What?" He asked, "Oh yeah, don't forget to clear the ground of any sticks or rocks first," he added.

"Alex…" Li started, staring at him with huge eyes.

"You don't look so well, go back and sit down with the others, we got this." Amber said softly.

"What?" Alex blanched, "I've got a bit of a headache, but I'm fine and we got so much stuff to do." He protested.

"Go back and see to Camilla and Paulo we can handle this." Li told him, with a pat on the back.

"She's right mate, go take a rest." Hex affirmed, an unusual softness to his voice.

"Sometimes the hardest part of being the leader is admitting when you need some help."

Alex placed a hand on his good friends shoulder and simply nodded in defeat, his eyes blurry with tears of gratitude and shame. He trudged back over to where the other two injured party members sat and dropped down between the two, closing his eyes wearily.

Amber looked over at Hex warmly, _he could be pretty caring and sensitive sometimes,_ she thought.

Hex caught her mushy expression and cocked and eyebrow.

"Well the female tent isn't going to put itself up ladies." He sarcastically noted with an amused expression, as he resumed pegging the first tent.

_Or not. _


	11. Chapter 11

Camilla and Paulo looked over at Alex with matching concerned looks, _he pushes himself so hard for his friends _Camilla noticed, _maybe too hard sometimes._ Distracted from his crook ribs Paulo had his first proper look at the young man from Northumbria since the crash; there was a large ugly bruise on the side of his head.

"Hey Alex" Paulo called loudly shaking his arm, "Did you get knocked out when we crashed?"

Alex's eyes opened to slits as he stared at Paulo "Yea maybe I don't remember it so well sorry,"

Paulo noted that his pupil sizes were the same and both seemed to react quickly when he waved his torch past them.

"Ok _amigo_ time for you to wake up then, I think you might have a concussion so it's not a great time for you to sleep."

Ignoring Paulo, Alex rolled away from his friend. Nodding at Camilla, the two of them shook Alex until he opened his eyes fully and sat up next to them looking peeved.

"Fine, we should probably do something useful while we are here anyway." He mumbled moodily taking out his survival kit. The tin was snatched from his hands and he whipped his head to see Camilla opening it with a sly grin.

"I'll get the fire going Mr. SAS," she teased shaking the tin "besides I think we should hand out a couple of your aspirin."

Alex nodded numbly at the sensible idea while Paulo started pouring water from the Jerry can into a dulled metal container to boil it. The three walking wounded popped a couple of aspirin each with a swig of water and the boys turned to watch their new friend light the fire.

"Wait" Alex stopped her as she lay out her tinder, "We need to dig a pit for the fire it will reduce the light it produces and diminish the chances of it being seen from a distance."

Camilla nodded, the practical idea made sense to her and together they scraped out an area about a foot deep with the collapsible shovel from her pack. With the light rapidly fading, the pretty white African girl glanced flint to tender and soon a small fire was crackling away merrily. Paulo folded out a small metal frame from his Bergen and used this to suspend the container of water over the fire and got back to preparing meal sachets for their dinner.

* * *

><p>Paulo peered over at the two teens seated close together by the fire and smiled deciding to try help things along.<p>

"You never got to finish your story before from the helicopter," he stated expectantly sitting down opposite Alex and Camilla, staring at the latter.

Avoiding his eyes the girl drifted her head back to look at the stars "I've never told anyone that much about me up until I met you guys" she confessed her voice sounding hollow.

"Why not?" Amber asked gently, her voice carrying easily in the still night as she Hex and Li walked back to the fire.

"Life is tougher here Amber" Camilla replied steely with a hint of sadness "It's cheaper and you learn not to trust people so easily."

Camilla reminded Amber of someone else but she couldn't quite put her finger on who.

"So what did you do with you parents…. Gone?" Li pressed.

"Dead. Li Dead. With my parents dead" she glanced up at Li who felt rebuked but was surprised to receive a smile for her effort.

Switching her gaze to the hypnotising fire Camilla resumed her story.

"With my parents dead I was sent to live with my grandparents on their farm in the outskirts of Johannesburg. I carried on being a bit of a wild child and a country girl until I was old enough to join the UN and try and do something useful with my life." She shrugged awkwardly.

* * *

><p>Hex cursed quietly to himself only half listening to her story as he tried to pick up any reception with his palmtop, there must have been some damage to its aerial or network receiver when they crashed. <em>Or maybe it's the lack of WiFi in these shitty third world countries <em>he considered morosely, _we never get to go anywhere civilised like London or New york._

Hex tried thinking his way through the palmtops schematics in his head to identify where mechanical faults may have occurred but he kept losing focus and eventually gave up.

_Why does that keep happening to me lately? _He questioned internally as his eyes followed Amber as she disappeared into the female tent.

* * *

><p>In the low khaki tent Amber splayed her legs out as she sat on the bed and drew an insulin pen from her pouch, having just measured her blood glucose levels she selected the correct dosage of insulin and injected it subcutaneously into the pinched skin of her stomach. She barely grimaced as the small needle punctured her skin and she dropped her shirt back down briskly and lay down on her bed space in the tent.<p>

Amber felt exhausted; it was hard work keeping up the high level of concentration required to navigate in nearly featureless terrain. _Maybe I'll have a short nap before dinner_ she decided, snuggling up on her foam sleeping mat and wrapping her sleeping bag around her.

While her body was beaten her mind still refused to stop churning, it was still trying to comprehend their helicopter being shot out of the sky and the enormity of the task that awaited them. Adding to the stew was what had happened to the three men back at the hotel and the Hyena at Camilla's place; Amber still wasn't sure how she felt about either Hex or Alex's actions that night.

As she closed her eyes the moonlight shimmered off a large slow moving body flowing towards her.

* * *

><p>With the boil in a bag meals heated Hex decided to take Ambers to her in the tent as a peace offering. Despite the moment they had shared after the crash things were still tense between them. The cold look she had given him in the van still hadn't left him and he felt the burning desire to make amends with the girl he seemed to think about constantly.<p>

He had recently heard her scream from the tent earlier indicating she was still awake and had probably found a large spider on her bed or something, so he felt confident he wouldn't be waking a cranky Amber.

Carrying two unopened hot bags of unappetising sludge he disappeared from the fire and headed for her tent, suddenly he felt his ankles catch and he was tumbling forward crashing into the ground with a shudder.

"Goddamn Guy ropes" he cursed under his breath at the generalised ache that resulted from the fall as he spied the khaki chord and the peg attached to it that anchored the tents to the ground.

As he wearily pushed himself to his feet he noticed a funny mark in the dirt, it was a wavering line as thick as his leg leading into the tent. Puzzled by the unusual path, Hex ducked his head and slid inside the tent flaps,

"Amber I brought you some….. dinner" he finished freezing in horror at the sight before him. A truly enormous snake lay in Amber's bed, its thick coils, patterned in brown splotches, wrapped around the girl who was frantically struggling for breath her lips starting to go blue.

Her terrified eyes met Hex's and pleaded without words for his help.

* * *

><p>Without another seconds hesitation Hex leapt forwards and tried to pry his dear friend from the snakes grasp, it felt like trying to move a drum full of cement as he wrapped his arms around a coil of snake and tugged with all his might. <em>This is futile<em> he realised _and Amber doesn't have much time left! _

_The head _he thought looking over at the triangular shaped head bobbing above the body _that's got to be it's weakest point._ With a roar of desperation Hex balled his fists together above his head and delivered a powerful two-handed blow down on the overgrown serpents head.

The head violently dropped about a foot before bouncing up to stare maliciously at its new enemy, its long body unbound the now unconscious girl and began to wind itself around Hex. With a loud hiss the serpent snapped at Hex barely missing his shoulder it's rancid breath making his eyes water as he roughly shoved the lunging head away. In blind panic, he tried to jump free of the snake causing their jumbled bodies to pitch into the canvas and spill out onto the grass.

Hex's shout and the noise of his struggle drew the rest of the camp to its feet and they rushed to his aid. His legs now completely tangled and the band of living muscle starting to close around his chest, Hex managed to gasp to the others.

"Help Amber she's in the tent." Before the breath was crushed out off his lungs.

* * *

><p>Alex cursed and ran back to grab his knife which he had left sitting on top of his Bergen for dinner. Li dashed forward to Hex's aid only to be knocked off her feet by a lash of the serpents' thick tail. Camilla saw Paulo dash past the distracted giant to help Amber and decided it was up to her to help Hex.<p>

Going straight for it's head, Camilla tackled it head on and rolled behind the snap of teeth trying to catch her. Hanging around the beasts neck she scrambled desperately for a weapon and her hands closed around the rough braids of the Guy ropes. With nothing else at hand, she looped the chord around the neck in front of her and drew the ends past herself with all her might.

The python bucked backwards trying to find its attacker with its teeth as it struggled to untangle itself. Camilla strained to keep the rope as tight as she could and saw dark blood seep around the loop as Li came up beside her and grabbed one of the ends with her uninjured arm. Together the two girls managed to loop the remaining rope a couple of times and draw and end through, effectively creating a slipping knot before stepping back from the flailing serpent as it demolished the tent it was tied to.

The animals thrashing tightened its noose and it began to weaken as it was slowly strangled to death, while Alex dragged a dazed Hex out of harms way. With a final hiss the great constrictor lay still among the wreckage of the tent it had destroyed in it's dying struggle.

Amber lay on the ground on the other side of the tent where Paulo had dragged her, the girls breathing was slowly improving and she started to stir as a concerned Hex ran over and slid to her side.

* * *

><p>"Girls. That. Was. Amazing" Alex whispered in awe looking at the gigantic snake.<p>

"African rock python?" Li asked breathing hard with an amused expression turning to Camilla.

"Spot on" Camilla nodded approvingly trying to play down Alex's compliment. " The biggest one I've ever seen too. They can grow up to six metres long this ones got to be at least five." She rubbed her knee, which was throbbing painfully; at some stage during the grapple she must have knocked it again.

Casting his eyes over the wrecked campsite and the spilled dinner pouches a mischievous look crossed Alex's face "Well it looks like we have found our dinner anyway."

* * *

><p>Amber's eyes fluttered open to find her handsome hacker cradling her head with such a look of concern on her face she had to smile at him.<p>

"That was one whopping big snake." She whispered, content to be held by him for a while longer.

"heh it was wasn't it" Hex chuckled still not quite ready to talk about it.

"Were you bringing me dinner?" Amber asked softly from his arms, brushing a tuft of grass off his shoulder.

"Yup" Hex nodded not taking his eyes off her and brushing a loose strand of hair off her cheek.

"Well where is it then Gadget-Boy?" she murmured lightly sliding further up in his arms.

"You just fought it" Camilla loudly interjected with a shrewd expression that clearly spelled payback to Amber. The prone couple rolled around to realise they were being stood over by their friends who all wore amused looks.

"You mean Anaconda back there?" Amber shrieked, amazingly finding energy and pushing herself up off Hex and onto her feet. Alex helped the young hacker to his feet and sniggered at his sheepish expression.

"Amigo that was one big snake you two picked a fight with" Paulo commented, "Nothing broken?"

Hex and Amber shook their heads, "Just badly bruised I think" Hex mumbled rubbing his sore ribs and back. His chest and back wounds had started bleeding afresh during the struggle and Paulo wearily turned to grab the first aid kit. Amber discretely lifted her shirt to inspect the damage and saw a rough graze from the scales that tattooed her whole torso that was starting to darken into the worlds largest bruise. It looked and felt like she had been run over by a truck.

"Good" Li said sarcastically, "I'd hate to think you had hurt yourself Hex while you were busy watching two girls finish what you started."

"Girl-Power" Camilla added giving the smaller girl a high-five.

Alex quietly fished the machete from Hex's Bergen and straightened out the limp head of the snake. Amber shut her eyes in time before she saw the blade fall but she was unable to block out the wet thump that accompanied Alex's grisly job as he hacked into the overgrown snake.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N**- A bit of filler, maybe a laugh or two and a bit of fluff for the ladies ;D

* * *

><p>Five minutes later, a couple of large sections of serpent were roasting away over the fire and Alpha force was pushing the remains into a long trench they had dug by the body.<p>

"Why didn't it just kill Amber with its poison?" Paulo asked Li, as they heaved the long corpse into it's grave.

Li dusted off her good arm on her safari trousers and stared at the Argentinean,

"Probably because it doesn't have any," she explained, rolling her eyes.

"Ah that is why it must squeeze," Paulo crowed, finally catching on. "So it does not bite then?"

"Oh no it still bites, didn't you see it snap? Come look at it's teeth." Li encouraged, becoming enthused about teaching her friend something about nature.

As Camilla and Alex continued heaving lengths of tail in the hole, Li carefully lifted the angular head from the hole and prised open the great jaws for Paulo to see.

"Why, they are wicked fangs," he admired, gazing upon the rows of long jagged teeth.

"They angle backwards too, you might have noticed, so that they prey can't wriggle out" She explained with a cool grin.

* * *

><p>"Is there some sort of irony to the fact that Slytherin here, tried to eat us and as soon as he's done over the fire, we are going to be eating him?" Amber cockily asked their chef for the evening, Hex.<p>

"Probably" Hex shrugged before adding playfully "I thought you'd be more concerned about what your pal here is going to taste like."

That thought wiped the grin off her face.

"Dad reckoned they taste like chicken," Alex commented, as the snake burying party returned to the fire.

"That's what you reckoned about Komodo dragon too," Hex pointed out sceptically.

"Komodo dragon?" Camilla blanched, sounding astonished.

"I didn't think it was too bad for giant, septic lizard." Li mused.

"I'm sorry, what Komodo dragon?" Camilla asked once again, a bit louder this time.

"Quite dense meat I thought, tender mind you." Paulo added, reminiscing fondly.

"Are you kidding me? Freaking Komodo dragon?" Camilla practically shouted at the group.

"I think we probably overcooked it though," Alex decided thoughtfully, barely suppressing a grin. "I think it would have been better medium rare. Next time." He concluded.

"That said, it couldn't have been fresher though could it?" Amber reasoned, catching onto the game.

This was met with much profound agreement and nodding from Alpha Force until Camilla finally exploded at them.

"KOMODO DRAGON?" She screamed in desperation and confusion.

Alpha force couldn't help but laugh at the look of bewilderment on her face and it was a while before someone answered.

"Oh yeah, we ate Komodo this one time on an island in Indonesia" Alex answered, trying to sound as casual as possible and not laugh.

The amusement was clear in the groups' eyes when Camilla glanced around expecting elaboration on Alex's story.

She was ruined an opportunity for explanation by Hex inspecting their current meal and announcing chef style, " Snakes up!"

* * *

><p>The grey skin with brown blotches had split and peeled off under the heat and the group was left with a thick, pale meat, which they carved straight off the spine with Alex's knife.<p>

Popping a bit of the cooked meat in his mouth and chewing experimentally, Alex nodded and started carving off more.

"Better then dragon?" Camilla asked sarcastically, still a bit miffed about missing out on a proper story.

Alex smiled, exposing his teeth littered with the white meat, "Much better" he mumbled through a mouthful of food. He still wasn't feeling too hungry, but the cooked meat was too good to pass up on and so he headed back for seconds.

"Easier to slay too I reckon," Hex muttered, briefly thinking of how he had almost ended up as the dinner of two giant scaled beasts now.

"Not that you did much of that slaying Hex." Paulo jibed his friend, the cowboy grin flushing his face.

Hex looked a little taken back for a second before coolly shooting back "That's alright mate, we did enough slaying on the Falklands to not take any crap from Argentineans."

Paulo choked on python laughing, "Ooohhh low blow _Amigo._" He coughed before forcing his face into the undrainable cowboy grin again.

Camilla smiled at the friendly banter between these obviously close friends, despite the Komodo dragon thing; she felt very much part of a group for once in her life and was forced to admit to herself that it felt good. She too hooked into the python meat and was pleasantly surprised by both its texture and its flavour. Alex's dad hadn't been far wrong when he described it as chicken.

Li also had no problem eating the exotic meat and figured it was definitely a step up from the terrible boil-in-a-bag meals they had brought with them. _Maybe we can kill and eat some tasty beast every night, _she thought jokingly to herself. Li was also impressed at how readily Camilla had both attacked the snake and then was prepared to eat it too. _The girl is tough, _Li decided with a new respect for the athletic blonde sitting opposite her, giggling at Paulo and Hex's antics.

Amber was having a bit more trouble stomaching the snake. The constant thought, that it could have easily been the other way round if Hex hadn't arrived when he did, stuck in her mind and soured her appetite. She felt another wave of gratitude for the loner from London, who always seemed to keep an extra cautious eye out for her and pick her up when she was down. Knowing though that she needed to eat, Amber sighed and with a wrinkled nose, carefully selected a decent looking bit of serpent, placed it in her mouth and chewed.

"Mmm definitely better then komodo," she conceded through a mouthful of meat, before helping herself to some more.

* * *

><p>With the last of the meat wrapped in a plastic bag from the ration packs and buried near the fireplace, the six friends got ready for the night to truly descend. Luckily the snake's struggles had not damaged any of the girl's belongings and it was only their tent that was ruined.<p>

The tents were well made with a lightweight nylon body, a separate nylon canvas fly and a built in tarpaulin floor. As well made as it was, it was also only really designed for three people and fitting four people in at once was a squeeze.

The other two people were going to be outside maintaining a staggered sentry roster, ensuring everyone spent some time out on the lookout, but at the same time allowing a reasonable amount of time for rest. Hex and Amber volunteered to take the first stag and let the others gratefully retire to the tent.

With the light truly fading, the two sat together on a log watching the lingering light disappear over the horizon. As the final rays of light were being brushed off Hex's face, Amber turned to him and kissed him softly on his cheek. Slightly shocked, Hex turned to her and asked in a quiet voice, "What did I do to deserve that?"

"Do I need a reason?" Amber drawled back, raising an eyebrow and forcing Hex into silence.

"That's for always being there for me when I need you" She decided after a long silence.

Hex beamed across at Amber in the darkness, before taking of his heavy bush jacket and wrapping it around her shoulders to protect her from the cool night air.

"Always" He simply replied, as she leaned her head in to rest on his shoulder and together they stared off into the edge of the horizon again.

* * *

><p>In the tent Camilla shivered, she was closest to the door since she was next on sentry and the cold wind periodically blew against her. She burrowed deeper into her sleeping bag trying to keep her bare skin covered and out of the wind. The Singlet and trackpants she wore for pyjamas seemed inadequate for the cold night, she reflected.<p>

She was weary of moving too much because of how close she was to Alex already, who was facing the other way, seemingly asleep. Also if she moved too much she might disturb the others slumber and because of this she settled in; prepared to endure a little cold for the sake of everyone else's sleep. Another violent shiver rocked her body and Alex rolled over to face her, looking alert.

"Camilla?" He whispered concerned, "Are you alright?"

Camilla couldn't hide her next shiver from him and shook her head. "Just a little cold here Alex," she mumbled through chattering teeth.

Alex sat up in his sleeping bag, exposing his bare, pale chest and started shuffling towards her. "Here, move past me then, I'll lie by the door." He offered.

Too tired and cold to argue, she rolled across to the other side of him and lay back down on the thin padding. "But now you'll be cold won't you?" She whispered, biting her lip.

"Na I'll be fine," Alex lied, already feeling the wind bite into his back.

"You're a terrible liar," she giggled quietly, "but awfully sweet," as she unzipped her sleeping bag. "Here, undo yours too and well just share them like blankets," she suggested.

Alex did what he was told and the instant his zip unlocked the sleeping bag, he felt Camilla slide her warm body up against his. He blushed as he felt her ample curves press tight against his side, she drew her sleeping bag up to overlap with his and placed an arm across his toned chest.

"Better?" she asked sleepily.

"Much" he replied with a swallow, unsure what to do with his hands or how he should lie.

He lay on his back drinking in her scent and trying to level the fluttering in his stomach, as she slid her head up to rest on his chest. Alex took a deep breath and slipped a brave arm across the lovely girl on his chest in a protective fashion, causing her to smile contently and snuggle in closer to him. Sharing one last lingering look, they both closed their eyes and were soon found by sleep.

_Jeez, took them long enough, _Li sniggered to her self, as she lay warm in Paulo's lazy embrace. _Some of us are trying to sleep. _She silently decided to take the next sentry shift herself to let the pair get some much-needed rest.

* * *

><p>At midnight Amber and Hex slipped into the tent having just swapped with Li and Paulo, they were met by the sight of Alex and Camilla spooned together at the front of the tent. Amber gave a muffled, "Awwww cute," with a soppy expression, as they stepped over the sleeping pair and slipped into their own sleeping bags, glad for the warmth after the cold night air.<p>

Hex turned to look at a shaking Amber next to him, "Alright, we can spoon too if you're really that cold," he teased her.

Indignation lit up Amber's tired features, "As if," she hissed, "I'd prefer to freeze."

Still it was only five minutes later, when a still shivering Amber gently shook Hex awake and gratefully took him up on his offer.

* * *

><p>Breakfast was a subdued affair as the final sentry for the night; Alex and Camilla, dug up the cooked meat from last night and reheated it on a flat stone over a small fire. As he slowly turned the meat, Alex realised his headache was a bit better, reduced to a dull pain behind his eyes and he reflected on what had been a fantastic sleep, despite it's short duration.<p>

Concluding he had made the right decision by calling a halt last night, Alex smiled and glanced across at his other sentry, who was putting a Billy of water on to boil. Despite her tawny hair being mussed from sleep, he still thought she was a majestic picture of beauty in the first rays of sunlight. Remembering his close proximity last night with the blonde babe, his face cracked into a pleased smile and he returned his gaze to the meat, which was starting to burn from neglect.

A yawning Paulo lumbered from the tent, drawn by the aroma of food and rubbing his eyes. "Morning _hombre_," He lazily called to Alex, after waving at Camilla, "What's for breakfast my tummy rumbles for food?"

"Snake" Alex replied chirpily, "with a hot drink if you're lucky," he nodded towards the billycan.

"Someone sounds awful happy this morning," Paulo coyly noted, before wincing as the side stretch he was doing tugged painfully on his wounded ribs.

Alex did his best impression of the his friends cocky cowboy grin before answering smoothly, "Amazing what a good nights sleep can do."

Paulo laughed out loud at the impression, despite the pain it caused him in his side. He was relieved to see a bit more life in his grey-eyed friend and couldn't help but think that he looked much more like the old, quiet, confident Alex. The one his friends had been missing over the last couple of days.

From the tent they heard arguing, which could only mean that Hex and Amber were up.

"Ekkk! Keep your feet away from mine, they are like freaking icicles." They heard Amber complain loudly.

"Yeah, well watch where you're putting those sharp, little bloody elbows," Hex faintly retorted.

Li crawled from the tent moments later, rolling her eyes at her two friends who were still in bed and sitting to run a brush through her long dark hair. She got to her feet and strolled over to her friends, merrily calling good morning as a scuffle finally broke out in the tent. "Morning Li," chorused the breakfast crew, as they offered her some of the reheated meat and passed her a dull metal cup of tea.

"Good sleep?" She asked Alex and Camilla innocently, with a sweet smile on her face.

Noting the quick flick of eye contact between them, her smile sweetened as they replied quickly.

"Yeah pretty good"

"Yeah a good sleep"

Li was deprived further enjoyment by the arrival of Hex, who had fled the tent after losing a wrestling bout to Amber and deciding to seek comfort in snake meat and oversweet tea. His face was already ruddy from exertion and wasn't going to get much redder, as he bore the brunt of his friends amused looks when he came over to pick at the meat.

Amber followed after and hurled a pair of socks at Hex with a warning glance. "Wear those next time," she scolded him, ignoring the others giggling before proceeding to steal breakfast from his plate.

"Alright enough mucking around," Alex decided, kicking sand on the fire. "We've got a lot of ground to cover today to make up for lost time yesterday. We need to pack up quickly and get moving again."

* * *

><p>With all the morning fuzziness and playtime over, the six teens got to work taking down the tent, packing up their Bergen's and removing any signs that they had camped there for the night. Ten minutes later everyone was ready to go, with the stores of food, water and tools fairly dispersed across the six of them before setting off.<p>

A nights rest had made the world of difference after the traumatic helicopter crash and this time the group set off with renewed energy and vigour. The groups' injuries still showed through though.

Hex was carrying Li's pack because she couldn't wear one with her fractured collarbone and slung arm. So Li took his place in the order of march and acted as Ambers pacesetter and cover-scout, while Hex toiled along quietly, further back with a double load. His butchered back stung from the sweat and the slash across his chest ached whenever he moved his arms in front of his body. At least both sites had a clean dressing on them again, after they had started bleeding post-snake fight.

In front of him, Paulo was still in considerable pain from his ribs, but as long as he stuck to shallow breathing he didn't aggravate it too much and apart from that he felt in pretty good form.

At the back Camilla hobbled along using Alex as a crutch, her knee was now very swollen, but not as painful anymore it just limited her range of movement a bit. Regardless of this, she still managed to move at a decent pace leaning on Alex for support. Alex's headache had returned with the strenuous exercise, but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been the day before, he still had short periods of blurred vision and dizziness though.

* * *

><p>The further they got from the crash site the more confident they became and their tactical silence gave way to jokes, singing and stories as the group bunched up, turning the hard walk into a more social occasion. The change in atmosphere changed the dynamics of the hike and the teens ate up the kilometres causing their destination to grow nearer. Finally, as the late afternoon sun was giving way to evening, Amber spotted their destination in the distance. A short earthen wall approximately two feet high surrounded the small settlement and formed its perimeter.<p>

As the relieved Alpha Force closed in on the small village, they noticed that something was definitely wrong and reverted back to their noiseless means of communication while they slunk up to the dilapidated walls of the village. Squat, one-storied, mud-brick houses made up the majority of the buildings, with the exception of an ancient looking church in the centre of town and what looked like a small hangar on the fringe at the other side of the village.

Hex's eyes wandered over blackened fields that stretched out on two sides of the village, which obviously used to be for crops. The eerie silence of the village unsettled the hacker and he felt a tingling at the back of his neck at the thought of going much further.

Behind him Li was equally creeped out, she felt like there was something missing from the picture of this small village, but she couldn't quite figure it out. The wind whistled ominously behind her, as she knelt by the wall trying to decide how she felt, so she could explain it to her friends.

Paulo broke the silence by saying what was on everyone's mind. "Guys something isn't right here." He softly stated.

Amber was the first to click to what was wrong and voice her concern, "Listen," she whispered, "there's no sounds of life at all, no one talking, no one laughing or working. Nothing."

The dead silence sunk in on the rest of them like a heavy mist.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N-** Another chapter as promised. A bit darker maybe. This one is for the new 'I read not write' and my ever loyal 'DammitimmaD'. ;)

* * *

><p>"Ok so we agree something isn't quite right in this place?" Alex confirmed" Lets be extra careful then and carry out some reconnaissance before we make our presence known."<p>

"We are here to pick up some transport right?" Paulo checked with the group before pointing to the tattered corrugated iron shed in the distance, "If there is any to be had my guess is it would be in that shed."

Camilla nodded "There's supposed to be a truck waiting here for us, that building is the only one big enough to conceal one."

"I think we need to take a closer look at the village itself too, something's happened here that maybe we be should aware of." Hex blurted, "The first place I would look would be the church with smoke coming out the back of it."

Alex turned quickly to look at the church, _damn_ he hadn't noticed the thin stream of smoke trickling from its rear. _Trust Hex to spot the one anomaly in the village_ he thought, revising the plan that was forming in his head to collaborate this new piece of information.

"I agree with Hex" Camilla sided, noticing the smoke for the first time too,"We need to know what's going on here before we can think of leaving."

"But the shed is- " Li argued angrily before being cut off by a hand held up by Alex.

"We check out both then." He concluded "but we do it carefully and quietly, if there is trouble here we don't want it." He finished sternly, giving Li a hard stare.

Li simmered back at the pointed glare she received; _I'm not the one who stabbed a guy_ she thought bitterly.

"Fine" She spat, dragging the curly black haired boy to his feet, "Me and Paulo will do something useful; check out the shed and find our vehicle. Go look at your stupid church."

"Can you go with them please Amber?" Alex quietly asked, sadly watching the pair stalk away.

Amber looked surprised but agreed, "Yea, they might need a translator" she justified leaving the others with a final concerned look back at them.

_That's not why they need you right now _Alex voiced internally, his brain buzzing.

"This way" Hex declared pointing to a narrow alley between houses that led in the direction of the rising pillar of smoke.

* * *

><p>Amber jogged to catch up with her two friends who were slinking their way around the low wall towards the shed; they seemed surprised to see her but then turned and silently continued.<p>

Li's pretty face was screwed up in fury as she led the charge towards the dull, dusty building. _Where did Alex get off implying she was the troublemaker of the group, the one most likely to use aggression over stealth?_ Paulo caught a glimpse of the anger in her face as they came up along side their target building and held up an arm to stop her going first.

She turned to face him directing the full heat of her glare on him. He mouthed the word _no_ and leaned close to whisper to her, "You're running too hot at the moment, I'm going first you take a moment to chill."

She met his serious expression and hers cooled off a bit realising her friend was right, she stepped aside to let him and Amber past to the door.

Paulo cracked the door open silently and held his breath as peered inside.

* * *

><p>As they zigzagged their way through the maze of buildings nearing the church, Hex thought he heard a voice and called his friends to a stop. Crouching to reduce their profile in the alleyway, the three teens listened in silence as they heard two men talking loudly in the native tongue. Suddenly the owners of the voice appeared in the Hex's line of vision as two olive drab uniformed men dragged a corpse past their alley. Hex felt adrenaline dump into his system, creating a metallic taste in his mouth, as the soldiers passed the group by unnoticed.<p>

"Did you see that?" He hissed back at the two other wide-eyed teens in the alley behind him.

"What's the army doing here?" Alex spluttered in outrage.

"Maybe we should go find out" Camilla suggested darkly.

Slinking from the shadows they emerged one by one onto the street to freeze in horror.

The street was littered with blood and half naked dead bodies, scattered among the dead was hundreds upon hundreds of brass shell casings, indicating the cause of so much death. Dark red holes laced the bodies and the gory irregular-shaped explosions of flesh that were exit wounds indicated to Alex that these people were gunned down from all sides. They never stood a chance.

Camilla dropped to her knees in shock, her long legs simply giving way. Hex staggered back like he had been punched and placed a hand against a nearby house to support himself. Alex's vision swam and the wave of dizziness and nausea from the other day hit him again with full force. Beside the boys, the kneeling girl gagged loudly and forcefully vomited onto the bloody streets.

Hearing the horrid coughing kicked the boys back into focus as they grabbed their ailing friend under her arms and dragged her back into the cover of the dark alley once more. Alex pulled the long hair back from Camilla's face as she continued to spit bitterly into the dust, while Hex in a state of shock rifled through his daypack. Turning to look up at Alex with watering eyes the pale girl mumbled in a tiny voice, "It's just like what happened to my parents."

Alex cradled her head against his chest and looked up at Hex who was still distracted. "We've got to warn the others." He choked.

At the sound of Alex's voice Hex stopped his search in triumph and nodded morosely, "Yes we do, but first we need to do this" he answered cryptically before removing his hand from the bag to show Alex the small digital camcorder he had been searching for.

"The world needs to see what's happening to these people" he explained

Alex smiled at the hacker's determination, even in the face of unthinkable horrors he managed a clear head and presented a solution to problems. He reached his hand for the small device "I'll do it mate" he whispered, "You go warn the others."

Hex jumped to his feet with a firm look in his eyes. "We'll meet you out by the wall where we started?"

"Hex, be careful." Camilla croaked from the ground, as the tall boy from London sprinted off.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the village Paulo's eyes met a completely different sight, housed in the confines of the shabby iron building was an all to familiar vehicle that brought a sense of both relief and dread to the young man. It was a monstrous twin-cab Unimog, almost identical to the one he had driven in the Sahara desert and almost been buried alive in. His eyes took in the four tall wrinkled tires and the frame and canopy that housed the rear deck of the sand coloured vehicle. The Unimog 1900 was a well-utilised hardwearing truck that despite its age was still used by military organisations worldwide.<p>

Before Paulo had a chance to celebrate their luck, a small African boy in a filthy white t-shirt leapt from the roof violently swinging a machete. In too much shock to consider attacking, Paulo stumbled backwards through the doorway, which ended up saving him as the long blade dug deeply into the wooden frame and became stuck there.

The wild looking child frantically struggled to free the heavy blade as Li helped Paulo to his feet. "Stop" Amber started shouting at the kid in every different African dialect she knew until the boy turned to look at them. Holding up their hands to show they were unarmed the friends walked the boy back into the shelter.

"Why do you come here?" the boy rudely demanded his eyes darting to the door.

"We're here with the United Nations and the Red Cross trying to bring help to your people but we need transport." Amber explained her arms open and her palms exposed.

The boy's dark face split in a wide grin showing yellowed teeth and bleeding gums, "UN? Red Cross? My name Mitulu. I guard truck, I guide." He announced proudly puffing his chest out.

"Pleased to meet you Mitulu," Li greeted the boy handing him back his machete and gesturing to the others. "This is Amber and I can see you've already met Paulo,"

Paulo chuckled a little and clutched his side in agony

"Stop making me laugh" he begged.

Mitulu's face suddenly changed like the waning of the moon, his smile changing to an expression of fear and worry.

"We must leave now" he insisted, "Bad things happen if we don't go soon."

"What sort of bad things? What has happened?" Amber demanded, picking up on the panic in the boy's voice.

"The army is here" the frightened boy whispered "They kill many, they kill us if they find us."

"The army?" Paulo said worriedly glancing at his two friends.

"We've got to get the others and get out of here fast." Li concluded, the colour drained from her face.

"One of us should go warn the others, bring them here." Amber announced, removing her pack and making for the door.

"No" Li stopped her, "I'll go we need you here. Find out more from Mitulu."

"Paulo" she addressed, "We need this truck ready to go by the time I return with the others."

Paulo saluted her with the oversized wrench he had picked up off a work bench before speaking, "Can do and Li, please be careful." His eyes begged.

Li nodded at her friend and waved goodbye with her unslung arm before slinking out the door.

* * *

><p>From his position on the roof of one of the short mud-brick houses Alex suppressed the urge to vomit and silently filmed the carnage filled streets below him. In the alley below a very pale Camilla sat with her back against the cooling brick, wrapped in Alex's desert camo smock and carefully keeping her eyes away from the maroon splashes out on the street.<p>

Alex swallowed nauseous as his lenses took in the scene of bloodshed beneath him, with disgust he recognised long hair and smaller frames among some of the bodies. _Those bastards even killed the woman and children_ he raged to himself despite noticing something unusual in the pattern of slaughter. It appeared to Alex that the men and boys murdered in the street below were either very old and decrepit or else very young and small. He pondered what had happened to the working aged males.

Vultures had begun to circle overhead and flies were starting to attack the mutilated bodies.

With a better vantage point from the roof Alex was able to see a a green open-topped jeep parked on the opposite side of the village and he was able to watch the two remaining soldiers move the bodies. A large open fire burning near them, created the column of smoke by the church and the soldiers were lazily retrieving bodies and throwing them on the bonfire. Alex filmed this too. sickened by the increasing scent of decay and death.

The black smoke polluted the sky and seemed to reflect the horrible deeds that had been committed below its cloud.

Not able to take anymore, Alex leopard-crawled back along the roof to slide down at the rear of the building. He switched the camera off and stowed it in a free pouch on his belt before turning to slide down the curved roof on his stomach. As gravity took hold and caused his body to scrape down the side, he caught a glimpse of a dust cloud on the road in the distance; a vehicle approaching. With a renewed sense of urgency he finished his slide and crouch-ran over to Camilla.

"We've got to leave now!" he ordered pulling the girl to her feet.

* * *

><p>Hex had made good time sprinting from the cover of the buildings to the perimeter wall in his round about journey to find the others. The long runs he did back home had built a good level of aerobic fitness in the young hacker and he was feeling in pretty good shape as he stealthily vaulted the low wall to plan his next move.<p>

He spied the garage about 500 metres to the north of where he had arrived and was just readying himself for another run when he saw a long scarf of black hair trail out from behind a nearby building.

"Oi Li" he hissed in her direction and was rewarded with the surprised Asian girl jumping in surprise and turning to face him.

"Hex?" She whispered curious and sprinted over to where he was "I was just looking for you guys-" She blurted before being cut off by Hex "The army is here, they've killed the whole village-"

"and we've got to get out of here ASAP?" Li finished with a grim nod. "Yea just what I was coming to tell you guys, we found our ride by the way and picked up a guide too."

"Over at the shed?" Hex queried, to which Li nodded. "Okay I'll head back and lead Alex and Camilla over there, can you make sure everyone else is ready to leave as soon as we get there?"

"Too easy" Li replied with a wink, all past animosity forgotten with the current crisis, before sprinting off the way she came.

Hex took a deep breath _Get the others; get out, what could go wrong?_ He tried to reassure himself unconvinced, as his mind flashed back to the explosive events of the past week. With a sense of foreboding, Hex made his way back to over the start of the housing area where he had last seen his friends.

* * *

><p>Back in the garage Paulo had the front panel of the Unimog off and the bonnet up so he could check the motor, belts and fluid levels before they set off. After topping up the radiator level, he was satisfied, and with Amber holding the front grill in place, he locked it back on using the Mogs special turning key. Focusing now on the canopy and tray of the truck he started tightening some of the screws holding the decking in place and increasing the tension on the canopy. With a final satisfied grunt he placed the sides back up in the rear, lifted the tailgate and bungeed down the canopy again.<p>

Behind him, Amber was trying to calm down the African child who was becoming increasingly agitated as they stayed in the shed. The Solambian boy was frantically tugging on her arm and insisting that they leave before the army returned.

"They kill, they take people away; then they come back to steal" he jabbered in rapid Solambian, his voice heavy with panic. "They search, they find us." He finished drawing his hand across his throat in the apparently international symbol for death.

Frustrated, Amber explained to Mitulu for what seemed like the thousandth time, "We aren't leaving without our friends, they will be here soon then we can leave."

Mitulu shook his head stubbornly and turned to plead his case to Paulo when suddenly he froze in place, his eyes displaying apocalyptic horror, before sprinting off to hide inside the large scrap metal bin at the back of the workshop.

"_Dios_" Paulo swore as he straightened up from tightening the wheel-nuts with a large wrench, "What the hell got into him?"

Amber shrugged and started to stride over to the boys hiding place, when she too stopped dead in her tracks not even daring to breath. Paulo's eyes widened as he too heard the noise that had given his friend pause. The rough sound of heavy boots crunching through the sand outside echoed in his head, as someone approached the door to the shed.


	14. Chapter 14

Paulo had only a split second to react, as his brain kicked into high gear and drew the only logical conclusion; a soldier was about to enter the shed. Li or the others would have approached quietly and then given the two-note whistle to alert the inhabitants before entering, this person walked with a lazy confidence and poor noise discipline. With the heavy torc wrench still in his large hands, the Argentinean did the only thing he could think of and desperately hurtled towards the door.

* * *

><p>Amber gasped, paralysed in place in the middle of the room as a dusty black combat boot stepped over the threshold, followed by a trouser leg in DPM clothing. Her eyes trailed up in horror as the rest of the scraggly soldier casually strolled into the building, he was a skinny, tattered specimen with scruffy fatigues that hung off his tall frame, a red beret sat atop his head at a jaunty angle. Amber took in the glazed expression in his eyes and relaxed posture, <em>possibly the result of drugs<em>, she concluded.

The feature that jumped out the most however was the battered looking AK-47 assault rifle that he held lazily in his dark arms. Amber noticed the curved magazines, housing death, that were slung upon his basic combat webbing and oddly enough, that there was not one already attached to his rifle. _Man this guy must be the slackest soldier in their army to be so careless,_ she realised with a shock.

Slack or not, the man could hardly fail to notice the slim, dark-skinned girl standing right in plain sight with a terrified look on her face. The soldier's face twisted through several expressions, starting with shock, then anger and finally most disturbingly; an evil, lustful smile.

He reached for a magazine for his rifle, completely fixated on the girl, which was why he didn't notice the stout, dark haired boy lunge at him from the side.

* * *

><p>Paulo exploded towards the soldier swinging the heavy wrench baseball bat style, aiming for the man's head. Perhaps due to the noise Paulo made or simply some reptilian part of his brain picking up on danger cues, the man turned at the last minute causing the tool to glance off the side of his head. The diminished blow still caused the man to stumble and drop the magazine in an attempt to bring his hands up.<p>

Paulo grunted at the searing pain in his ribs the shot had cost him and his arms jolted from the follow-through, chambering the wrench to his shoulder for another shot. The soldier's second hand found a grip on the empty weapon, just ahead of the magazine slot and with a snarl brought the weapon up and across his body in a defensive posture.

Amber was still stuck in shock as her friend viciously launched into his assault against the enemy. With a dry mouth and a buzzing in her chest she realised that this situation was too much like déjà vu of the bloody fight that had occurred in the hotel. Her brain was firing off signals, but her body seemed slow to respond. She had to help Paulo she knew that but how? A mop and a deep sink full of dirty water sat up against the closest wall, seeing no other weapons in site, Amber strode over and drew the mop by it's thick handle, wielding it like a staff.

As she closed the distance to enter the fray, Paulo swung in overhand with his weapon in another powerful swing aimed at the soldier's head. For his part, the soldier had recovered quickly from his initial shock and he raised his empty amalgamation of metal and wood with both hands to parry the downward blow.

The jarring impact of the block sent shockwaves of pain down Paulo's thick arms and broad shoulders, eventually reaching his broken ribs and causing him to pause and gasp for air. What little air he was able to suck in was pummelled from his lungs an instant later, when the wily soldier whirled his rifle around and delivered a stunning blow to Paulo's stomach with the butt of the weapon.

Red spots danced in front of the young mans eyes, as his diaphragm was rocked with a spasm and he stumbled back dropping to his knees, lungs seemingly unable to inflate. Through a darkening vignette, Paulo could only watch gasping for air, as a sneer crossed the soldier's face and he lifted the rifle up, barrel first, to deliver another smashing blow.

* * *

><p>The man's killing blow was halted by a sudden crack, as the mops handle caught him hard across the ribs.<p>

Amber whipped the handle back to her body, keeping it forward and vertical as a barrier between her opponent. The dark soldier snapped his head in fury towards his forgotten victim and left the broken Argentinean that was hunched on the floor.

The mop snapped out again before the man could react and crushed the fingers on his left hand against the barrel, Amber was morbidly satisfied to hear several gruesome snaps, as multiple fingers were broken. Before she had a chance to withdraw the mop for another blow however, the soldier dropped his rifle and instead took up a grip on Amber's weapon. Amber raised the stick horizontal in anger, to keep some distance between herself and the rangy warrior. With one good hand and a couple of unbroken fingers clutching the opposite side of the mop, the filthy man took the opportunity to overpower the girl and used the stick to push her back up against the wall.

Amber cried out, as her back slammed against the wall and the dirty hands opposite hers violently forced the staff up her body until it was pushing heavily against her throat. Drawing laboured breaths, Amber stiffened in horror, as the dirty Solambian shoved his body up tight against hers and his yellow teeth appeared in an evil smile. She felt like his rotten breath was choking her as much as the stick across her throat.

Her mind panicking from lack of oxygen and her body weakening, Amber realised with a stunning clarity that she was probably going to die, suffocated by a filthy soldier in some broken country. Her hypoxic mind drifted to the friends she would never see again, one in particular catching in her mind. A startling mix of tears and anger filled her face, as she realised there were things she would never get to say to him. _No chance to say goodbye,_ she wept internally, as her vision began to fade.

At that thought her whole body revolted against her death and in one final surge of energy, the dying girl drove a knee up between the man's legs. The effect was devastating and instantaneous. The wiry soldier yelped in what was the ultimate pain and recoiled backwards dropping the mop.

* * *

><p>It took a second before Amber's body realised it was no longer supported by her throat and she dropped forward onto her knees, sucking in frenzied breaths through her burning throat. Dizzy beyond belief, Amber coughed and spluttered, as her newly opened throat rebelled against its recent trauma. Amber's vision was clearing more and more with each inspired breath and it allowed her to witness in disbelief the rise of her would be murderer.<p>

One hand clutched his damaged manhood, as he struggled to his feet swearing in his countries harsh sounding language, his eyes were ablaze with hatred. With his free hand he slowly picked up his assault rifle from the floor and withdrawing a hand from his crotch, he snatched a magazine off his bandoleer. The curved magazine slid into the mag recess with a resounding click, completing the recognised picture of evil that was the AK-47.

With a shaking, injured hand, the soldier cocked the bolt back with his two good fingers, the harsh rasp of metal on metal combined with the sound of a bunching spring caused Amber's burning chest to skip a beat. The final sinister noise of the bolt being released and the working parts slamming forward, chambering a bullet, seemed to herald Amber's death.

Resolutely she closed her eyes.

* * *

><p>As the black finger strayed towards the trigger guard, a shadow reared up behind the distracted soldier and slammed into him from behind. A shallow breathing Paulo carried the soldier with the momentum of his tackle right into the wall, smashing the soldier square on into the metal, causing a resounding thump. The deadly weapon slipped from the battered man, as it was his turn to fight for air, struggling for breath he scrambled frantically at Paulo's arms that held him pinned to the wall.<p>

Releasing his hold to draw a fist, Paulo roared as smashed one of his huge mitts into the African man's head with terrible force, knocking him sideways face first into the basin. Paulo's thick fingers wrapped around the ailing man's neck and forced his head into the murky water. Blinded by a red curtain, Paulo held the man there while he thrashed and kicked in vain, his struggles becoming weaker. At the sudden cessation of movement, it suddenly dawned on Paulo what he was doing and he immediately hauled the man out, letting the filthy body spill back across the floor.

Feeling his heart pounding in his ears, Paulo turned to rush over to Amber, a concerned look on his face.

"My god Amber, I thought he had killed you! Are you alright?"

Amber's throat was in agony and she suspected talking would just aggravate it so just she nodded instead with moist eyes, as she weakly hugged her friend. The small amount of pressure she could muster was enough to make Paulo collapse in pain beside her clutching his ribs and sucking in air hard between clenched teeth. He also became acutely aware of a terrible pain in his hand and looked down to see the hand he had punched with earlier was quickly swelling up, bolts of pain shot through it whenever he tried to move his fingers.

Worry lined Amber's face and despite the terrible pain in her throat she croaked at him, "Are you? Is he…?" She couldn't finish her sentence, as she nodded at the soaked soldier lying only metres away.

Paulo gritted his teeth harder and spoke in gasps "I'll live, he's not breathing though."

Amber could only stare speechless at what seemed like the millionth dead body she had seen that week. _Death seems to follow us lately,_ she grimly thought.

"That is unless you want to give him CPR" Paulo said exhausted, a hard look in his eyes.

Amber shook her head glass-eyed.

She remembered how close she had came to death at this mans hands, how his filthy body had been forced up tight against her own and she shuddered. Surprisingly, she realised she felt no remorse for this man at all. He would have happily killed them both and maybe done worse things to her first if they hadn't defended themselves.

A crash from across the room made both friends jump.

* * *

><p>An untidy head of black hair poked up from the scrap metal bin and Amber suddenly remembered their reluctant guide. The small boy fully emerged from his hiding place with a new found look of respect for Paulo, as he hurried back over to the friends.<p>

Proud to be in the presence of such perceived heroes, the boy declared happily "You both very tough to kill him."

"It's not like that, it was an acci-" Amber gravely tried to explain, before she was cut off by a familiar two-toned whistle. Knowing Paulo didn't have the breath to return it, Amber puckered her lips and returned the call.

Second's later Li erupted into the room.

"The others are on their way here, I hope you guys are ready to leave here.." Her voice trailed off and disappeared when she spotted her two friends slumped against the wall, wrecked and the body of the soldier splayed across the floor in a shallow puddle of water.

"What the hell happened here?" she managed to gasp, her face alight with concern as she ran over to the two teens leaning on the wall.

Amber started to huff out a hoarse reply, her face cringed in pain when Paulo cut her off.

"We ran into a complication" he quickly snapped, refusing to meet Li's gaze, "we are ready to go now though."

Li was about to push the matter when she heard a second whistle from outside. "That's the others," She jumped, "We can discuss this later, but now we have got to get out of here."


	15. Chapter 15

Clasping Paulo's good hand, Li helped him to his feet and opened the driver's door for him, with a groan Paulo climbed into the cab and turned over the engine. A loud beep sounded from the Unimog over the engines growl, as it started to fill the air tanks that engaged its brakes.

Amber and Mitulu climbed into the cab beside Paulo as the beeping stopped indicating full tanks, Paulo depressed the clutch and slipped the Unimog into gear. He winced as his injured right hand clawed the steering wheel and he anxiously waited for the rest of Alpha Force.

From the door, Li waved to her remaining friends who were hauling ass in her direction. They ran past her and piled into the cab of the Mog, which was now becoming quite cramped. Li tugged hard on the chain that operated the garage door, the muscles in her arms pumping as she ignored the sharp pain in her shoulder and hauled down repetitively, slowly raising the door. With enough space for the truck to get out, she jumped onto the passenger door of the truck, as it accelerated past her and in one athletic motion, swung her body inside.

"Go North," Amber pointed for Paulo as they tore a 180-degree turn from the shed and started chugging away from the village.

* * *

><p>"Oh yeah, everyone this is Mitulu," rasped Amber, gesturing to the small child perched on her lap in the crowded cab.<p>

In the rear of the cab, Hex barely noticed his introduction to their young guide, he was turned backwards in his chair trying to peer around the canopy to see if they were being followed.

"I think we got away clean," Alex answered, reading Hex's mind and stretching his neck to look back using the oversized wing mirrors.

"It was quite noisy with that other vehicle approaching from the south," Camilla noted, in way of explanation.

"I think we should get off the roads anyway," Hex insisted, "It will make us harder to track."

"I agree with Hex," Li softly answered, "but with one adjustment; we need to swap drivers." She pointed at their large driver, whose eyes were wide and unfocused, his face screwed up in pain.

"Paulo?" Amber shook the big lads shoulder questioning.

"Paulo?" she repeated, a little more worried and with a harder shake.

"PAULO!" She shouted at him, shaking him violently and causing it to feel like her throat had just exploded.

The big Argentinean turned to face Amber with a feeble attempt of his cowboy grin smeared on his face.

Seeming as though he had only just heard her, he asked in an unusual voice, "What is it Amber?"

"Pull over here," She softly commanded.

The boy meekly nodded and slowed the heavy vehicle to a stop.

"You've done more then enough mate, time for a rest." Alex gently told him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Looking defeated, Paulo turned to face his friends and silently opened the door to the truck. Almost vomiting from the pain, he slid from the cab and slowly walked around to the passenger side, with one final effort he hauled himself up and into the back before collapsing in his seat next to Li.

She noticed the slight grey tinge to his usually tanned face and searched for his injured hand. Li carefully lifted the limp hand from the boy's lap to inspect it, as the truck took off again with Amber behind the wheel, after she finished switching Mitulu across to Hex's lap. The hand was completely swollen up at almost double the size of his other; it was purpling around the knuckles and the sedate owner grimaced in his sleep when it was handled.

For the second time in less then a week, Li was horrified to feel crepitus as the fractured bone ends of Paulo's second and third fingers rubbed together under her gentle palpation. Paulo groaned in his sleep and feebly tried to withdraw his hand from the short Asian girl. His eyes flickered open briefly, as Li gently splinted the two fingers with equipment from the first aid kit in the glove box. With his hand more comfortable, Paulo fell into a deep sleep, his long curled hair acting as a pillow against the window while the truck bounced along. Li sighed sadly, it troubled her to see the poor, sweet boy in such pain and realising what the gentle giant had been forced to do in the shed made tears well in her eyes.

* * *

><p>Sitting behind Paulo in the cab was Camilla who had also fallen asleep, her head rested on Alex's shoulder. <em>It must have been a pretty traumatic event for her in the village, <em>Alex reasoned while he tucked his jacket around her shoulders, before turning beside him to Hex. From his belt pouch he withdrew the small camcorder and passed it to the hacker.

Hex for his part, opened the viewfinder of the camera and was about to review the footage when he remembered the small boy sharing his seat. _Maybe later,_ he decided, as the curious child watched him stow the camera and withdraw his palmtop from its protective case instead. The bright screen illuminated the little African with a gentle blue light when Hex brought up a map of Solambia and the location for the first supply drop.

Frustrated by the lack of connectivity in the country, Hex was unable to send the video footage to any of his sources on the net or to Amber's uncle. Instead he had decided to focus on plotting the best route from their current location to the first aid drop.

"Pass me the compass Amber, I need to change our current bearing since we are travelling off road." Hex explained, reaching past his friend's shoulder.

Amber snapped out of her thoughts long enough to pass the compass that was resting on the dashboard back to the boy from London. She was glad for the distraction of driving; it stopped her replaying her near death over and over in her head. Her throat felt like it was still being crushed and each breath she drew seemed to burn, as it passed through her bruised cartilage.

Amber shivered in her seat and felt filthy, remembering the proximity of the dead man when he was trying to crush the life out of her. The split second when his body stopped thrashing was frozen as a still frame in her memory. She took a trembling breath, let it wash through her aching throat and tried to focus once more on the empty savannah in front of her.

She drove steadily for the next hour, her mind only focusing on the darkening ground she drove over.

* * *

><p>Alex looked around at his team warily; they were injured, exhausted and emotionally drained.<p>

Yet they pushed on.

Alex felt a warm wave of pride surge up in his chest as he reflected on his amazing friends and their resilience. He knew a good leader had to keep in mind his group's wellbeing and consider that into how hard he pushed them towards their goal. At the moment, both him and his friends were in pretty bad shape, trying to push on for much longer was to invite disaster. Besides, they had already covered a fair bit of ground and the first drop wouldn't happen until tomorrow anyway. They could afford to find a place to park up and rest for the night.

"Amber pull into that tree-line" Alex instructed, pointing past her shoulder.

Reluctant to anger her throat, Amber simply nodded and did as she was instructed and bumpily drew the truck to a halt close to the trees.

Leaving the two sleeping teens in the truck, Alpha force piled out and started to survey the area.

"This will make a good camp," Alex decided, motioning for the others to gather in.

"There is scrimmage, camouflage net and poles on the roof of the Mog, we throw that up first then set up camp under that agreed?"

His three friends nodded and headed back towards the truck.

Li nimbly climbed on the roof of the dusty truck and started unstrapping the scrimmage that was rolled up in two long sausages. The scrimmage was a dull Hessian sheet that was unfurled to help break up the distinctive shape of the truck, therefore making it harder to identify. The camouflage netting that was rolled down over the scrim further broke up the shape and pattern of the vehicle by the use of non-obtrusive, irregular shapes that were designed to not draw the eyes attention. It was coloured very similar to the surrounding savannah and from a distance would simply look like a hill or clump of bush.

Hex and Amber caught the netting as it rolled off the side and ducked underneath it to start erecting poles that would pull the camo taught, creating a more natural looking shape. Outside the net Alex and Mitulu worked quickly, ducking around the perimeter with a bag of pegs, securing the net in place and leaving a narrow overlapped space at one end for use as a door.

* * *

><p>Hex turned to watch Amber as she slowly lifted a pole and advanced its mushroom shaped head that was designed to hold the net without tangling or damaging it. For the first time he noticed the ugly dark purple bruise that had began to form across her neck and his eyes flashed in fury. <em>How could I have been so stupid, <em>he berated himself storming over to her; it explained why she had been so quiet since they left and why her voice was so hoarse.

"What the hell happened back in that shed?" He demanded firmly, his hand reaching up to gently touch her damaged neck.

Amber closed her eyes and felt her heart rate jump, as his cool hand lightly caressed her bruised throat, it felt soothing and she longed to let him keep it there forever. With tears pooling in her eyes, she reached a hand up to his gently touching one, placing her palm over the back of his and linking their fingers.

"A soldier came," she whispered hoarsely, as she guided his hand slowly over the sorest point of her larynx, feeling her chest hammer away at his sensitive touch.

As soon as the words left her lips, Amber felt Hex's hand freeze in place and saw his whole body seize up.

Regaining his composure and once more allowing his hand to be led, Hex gently spoke again, "What happened?"

A single tear leaked down Amber's dark skin until it reached Hex's hand.

"The guy wasn't suspecting trouble so Paulo jumped him with a wrench, but somehow the soldier got the upper hand and smashed Paulo hard in the guts. I had to stop the man from killing him so I hit him with a mop, which he took off me and almost choked me to death with it against the wall." Amber mumbled quickly, her voice raspy, the tears now flowing freely.

Hex's hand slunk from her bruised throat around to her slender neck and he pulled her into his body. She collapsed into his embrace, silently weeping into his shoulder as he smoothed her hair with one hand, his face a mask of concern.

The hurt and fear shined in Amber's eyes, as she leaned back in his arms to look up at him. "I thought I was going to die Hex and there was so many things I hadn't said, hadn't done." She whispered, finally losing her voice.

Hex's blood pumped a mile a minute, as he leaned in towards the distressed girl, his hand sliding up to cradle the back of her head. Amber's lips parted slightly and her pupils fully dilated, as the handsome, fair-skinned face grew closer. She closed her eyes and held her breath, hoping to capture the moment forever.

The moment was shattered as Li, who had been listening, dropped from the roof right beside them with a dull thud and snatched Amber's arm.

"What happened to Paulo?" She demanded, pulling her friend to face her.

Amber's eyes sprung open in a second of disappointment, before becoming brown pools of sadness again.

"He saved me Li, for the second time." Amber croaked, "Paulo tackled the soldier before he could shoot me. He drove him right into the wall where they struggled and I could only sit there holding my throat and try to breathe."

Li couldn't help but hug her friend when she heard the helpless tone in her voice.

Amber sobbed in her friends supporting arms and continued, "Then he punched the man. God he punched him so hard I heard something in one of them break Li! It was hard enough to knock the guys head into the basin and when it was there ,Paulo just kept it there."

Li's face went pale and her whole body rigid, tears began rolling down her cheeks.

Amber, noticing her friend seize up in their embrace, looked up meet her eyes. "He didn't mean to do it Li, he was just desperate to stop the man." She justified.

Li believed her friend despite the cold feeling that had settled in her stomach and she pulled Amber and Hex, who was awkwardly standing off to aside, into a group hug.


	16. Chapter 16

The camouflage and tent eventually got put up, largely due to Alex and Mitulu who weren't busy balling their eyes out or comforting each other. Like most girls, Li and Amber felt better after a good cry and a hug and they set about setting up bed spaces.

Alex and Hex took charge of preparing the evening meal using a portable gas cooker and a large billycan. Alex would have loved to use a fire but considering their close shave with the army earlier that day he was not eager to test their luck anymore then he had to. Instead they emptied the last of the meal sachets into the pot to create a stew that was hopefully enough to feed seven.

Mitulu proved his worth by returning from an hours foraging with several large seedpods and dozens of wild figs. He then showed the two older boys how to crush up the seeds from the pods, which he insisted would make a nice thickener for the stew and add some extra flavour.

"_Ceratonia siliqua _or Carob tree as it is more commonly called" Li explained looking impressed at the find when Alex asked her about it, confirming it was edible.

* * *

><p>Camilla and Paulo were woken up for dinner and climbed out of the cab to find themselves concealed under the camouflaged awnings with darkness approaching and the smell of a hearty stew wafting towards them. Hungrily, the pair joined the rest of the group in the tent, where everyone sat cross-legged as the stew was poured into bowls.<p>

Li looked up, as the sullen eyed Argentinean sat down, he seemed reserved, not his normal overconfident self. No cowboy grin covered his face, which seemed very plain and lifeless without it. For the first time Paulo noticed his splinted hand and peered across at Li "did you splint this?" he quietly mumbled waving his bandaged limb.

Li nodded "Boxer's fracture, I've seen a few in my day." She explained referring to her time in full-contact martial arts tournaments.

"It commonly occurs with inexperienced fighters or boxers who are too used to having gloves cushioning their fists."

"You did a good job," he admitted, still sounding morose, "thank you."

Alex started sliding steaming bowls of stew in front of the team and the dull clatter of green plastic spoons echoed as Hex handed out cutlery. The hungry group hacked into the food without hesitation; the day's events had drained them all. As the happy sounds of eating diminished Alex addressed the group, briefing them on the plans for the rest of the night and for the next day.

"Ok tonight there will be sentry again, starting 1900" he announced to the collective moans and groans of the group.

"But it will be a 50% watch; just one sentry at a time meaning everybody will get a bit more rest. We still have to remain alert we know the enemy is out there." He explained gravely.

Amber circled a location on the map and passed it to Alex, who quickly evaluated it and continued.

"According to Ambers navigation we have another forty kilometres to cover tomorrow in order to reach the first aid drop by 0600. That means we are away from here no later then 0500. It's an early start I know." He acknowledged seeing the downcast looks around him.

"The good news is once we have the supplies our timings are our own until the next drop in three days. Mitulu will guide us to the villages that need us, we dispense the aid and then repeat the cycle. We will be back in the game and back on track." He finished with a grin that was far more confident then he was feeling.

Camilla looked around the dejected group as it fell into silence; they looked absolutely shattered at the moment not the hardy group of teens she remembered from a week ago. She was embarrassed about how she had fallen to pieces back at the village and felt as though she had to prove herself to the friends again. Despite the lingering nausea from earlier, Camilla forced down her sadness and fear, twisting her face into what she hoped was an upbeat expression.

"Come on guys," She cheered brightly, "I know we have had a really rough last couple of days but we are through the worst of it now and just need to push on for a little bit longer. Once we make this first drop we can decrease the tempo a bit and create a little more time to recover."

Alex shot her an appreciative look.

Li caught the girl's enthusiasm and tried to rally the team as well, "She's right come on we are Alpha Force; hard work is right up our alley, since when did we ever shy from a challenge?"

"That's the spirit" Alex encouraged.

Hex's face remained serious as he raised his hand like he was in school. "What about the footage we obtained today?" he asked raising his eyebrows and directing his question at Alex.

Alex looked anxiously across at the yawning African boy beside him and sent the group a pointed look, "We will discuss that later tonight." He hinted.

"Might be time for bed there Mitulu?" Camilla said firmly, catching Alex's drift.

The young boy turned to face yawned again and nodded. "I sleep in truck, guard truck." He declared simply rising to his bare feet and disappearing in its direction.

"Ok about the footage" Alex whispered conspiratorially, "We've got some footage of the slaughter back in the village but since Hex has limited connectivity out here we basically have no way to transmit it. So we carry on with our original objective but at the same time try to make contact with the UN to let them know what we have got and hopefully transfer it across."

Camilla looked troubled at the mention of the village but she held her tongue. Amber too looked bothered by Alex's executive summary, "Wait," She interrupted "why isn't it a priority to transfer the film?"

"Well…" Hex answered her hesitantly, "It may not be enough alone for the UN to act on and conduct some sort of intervention."

Paulo also spoke up for the first time "While the UN makes a decision, people here will still be starving and dying so our priority remains delivering aid and helping them." Li was surprised by the passion in his voice.

Amber nodded in defeat, satisfied by her friend's rationale.

"I'll take first stag the rest of you get some sleep," Alex concluded rising to his feet, "oh and Paulo" he added "no sentry for you or Amber tonight just get some rest."

The pair nodded in exhaustion and retired, Paulo to share the Unimog cab with Mitulu and Amber to the tent. Li and Camilla walked to the edge of the net to wash the dinner dishes with antibacterial wipes declining Hex's offer to help. The two girls felt more then capable of handling it and also welcomed the chance for a bit of girl talk in the darkness.

* * *

><p>Shrugging with indifference the hacker ambled back to tent and flopped down on his bed; beside him Amber went through her nightly routine of checking her blood sugar levels. She glanced over, her body beginning to burn up as he slowly removed his shirt and kicked out of his boots.<p>

She reached across and lightly laid a hand on his bare muscular back. Hex jerked at the sudden contact and looked over his shoulder at her. "It's healing up well" Amber whispered her fingers tracing between the multitude of nicks and cuts from the shrapnel that were healing over on his back. He had removed the bandages earlier since Paulo had suggested airing the wounds.

Hex turned on his bed to face her, "We need to change your bandages tonight" he reminded her reaching for the basic first aid kit at the top of her pack. In silence he removed the filthy bandages that covered the various scratches and cuts on Amber's arms and legs. With the wounds exposed he soaked a square of gauze in disinfectant and gently started dabbing. Amber instantly pulled away under his hands and turned to scowl at him

"OWW damn that stings!" She accused raspily.

"Don't be such a baby" he shot returning her scowl.

Amber whimpered slightly and continued to make scathing comments until Hex had finished.

Then she smiled an evil grin. "I guess we better change the one on your chest too." She commented her voice dripping with venom.

Without asking for permission she gripped the edge of the tape that secured his bandage and yanked with all her might. With a horrible ripping noise, the tape tore from flesh, dragging with it a quantity of Hex's fine, dark, chest hair. The hacker screamed in pain watching the sadistic grin of the girl grow with his obvious show of discomfort.

"Oh don't be such a baby Hex," She teased sarcastically, "Besides getting waxed hurts girls way worse."

"And that was just your chest." She added seriously.

Hex was lost for a response, looking down at his missing patch of hair and was too distracted to stop Amber snatching the disinfectant off him. She plunged a new piece of gauze into the strong liquid and started wiping the edge of his sutured cut. Her fingers eagerly splayed out across his firm chest to hold him still with one hand as she cleaned with the swab. With quiet joy at touching the boy, she worked slowly and methodically.

Hex gritted his teeth, determined not to make as bigger deal as she had when he did it to her. Apart from the sting of disinfectant his body also reacted to the presence of her other hand that clutched his body in a more then just supportive manner. Was it just the pain pushing up his heart rate and making him feel dizzy?

With the wound clean Amber applied a fresh dressing and was slightly disappointed as he replaced his shirt, nodded thanks and slipped into his sleeping bag. Feeling the strain she was putting on it she decided not to say anything in fear of losing her voice altogether and she climbed into her own bed silently.

* * *

><p>At the edge of the netting the two girls chattered away incessantly in a hushed whisper as they wiped the dishes from dinner in the cool night air. From his sentry position further around the net, odd snippets of conversation reached Alex as he lay on the ground scanning the open savannah. He heard bits and pieces of some of Alpha Force's stories, much giggling and what he could have sworn was his name more then once.<p>

_That can't be good _Alex figured, _Li sharing some embarrassing stories about me I bet. _

As the two girls bonded over their work and recent shared experiences the questions became a bit more personal and tended to focus on each other and their friends.

"So are those two an item?" Camilla asked slyly nodding her head towards the tent where the talking and movement had just ceased.

Li rolled her eyes and replied with a laugh, shaking her head. "No they aren't. They may as well be but they dance around the issue. They care for each other so much but refuse to admit it."

Camilla cocked an eyebrow suspiciously "Are you sure? They were snuggled up pretty cosily the other night."

An amused look crossed Li's face "You mean like you and Alex were?"

The blondes face heated up under the moonlight.

"I'm just a little cold here Alex" Li imitated, making it sound very suggestive.

The pale girl beside her was appalled; the night hid the deepening red of her face as she guiltily replied. "I thought you were asleep."

Li broke into a giggling fit, "Not quite. Real smooth by the way."

Camilla pouted stubbornly, maintaining her silence _and hopefully my dignity_ she thought, the only sound becoming the scrape as she rubbed food off the spoons. Noticing the change in the girl Li pressed home the advantage.

"Paulo says that he doesn't have a girlfriend back home you know?" she revealed sweetly, loving the jerk of surprise that occurred from the other girl.

"Oh right because I asked?" Camilla replied trying to sound sarcastic and offhand, pushing up the barriers around her again despite the leap that occurred in her chest.

"No but you wanted to." Li snapped back her voice full of mischief as she finished wiping down the pot.

"Paulo says huh?" The blonde countered slyly, ignoring the blow and throwing the last clean bowl on the pile.

Li didn't reply while darkness enveloped her face as they turned to carry the dishes back to the camp.

With the nights gossip session, over the rest of the night passed uneventful, apart from Hex tripping over a sleeping Li on his way to sentry and waking the whole unamused tent.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N- **Without giving too much away. Plenty more action to come, just a bit of set up required first. Bear with me ;)

The morning brought with it dates for breakfast and a hurried pack up under the cover of darkness. At five AM the sun had not yet risen and there was no light to witness Hex turn over the heavy engine of the Mog as the friends piled into the vehicle. With Paulo's damaged hand he was excused from driving duty, as was Camilla who with her swollen knee would be in agony stomping the pedals. Instead the two of them sat in the back of the cab either side of Li. The three of them felt particularly useless there and ended up drifting into fits of broken sleep for the length of the journey.

Up the front Alex and Amber navigated with the help of their guide, who was found to be quite good with maps and soon Amber had managed to get rough locations for all the local villages logged onto the virtual map. Using the GPS unit that was incorporated into the palmtop Alex was able to accurately navigate at night-time even in the featureless terrain and the pitch black. Light was beginning to peek over the horizon as the team drove up to the designated dropzone and parked up to wait.

"So how old are you Mitulu?" Amber asked the boy in a friendly voice, breaking the silence.

"I am twelve" He answered proudly, "I am a man." He insisted.

Amber rolled her eyes. _Typical boys_. "Wow! Hex is seventeen and he still isn't a man," She told the boy, with a straight face acting as though she was impressed.

She squealed with pain as Hex prodded her in the rib, "Too much man for you," He sharply countered, his eyes still focusing out front.

The child looked on confused as Amber turned to eye the hacker in a condescending way. "Sooo immature" she sighed before rolling her eyes at him.

"Am not" Hex returned, his pseudo-severe face giving way to a small smile.

"Are too" Amber retorted childishly matching his expression.

"Quiet kids" Paulo hushed gazing to the sky out the window. "I think this plane is ours."

Sure enough the outline of a plane could just be discerned against the dark skyline above them. Its roar reached its loudest directly overtop the friends and a large brown box tumbled out the back. It plummeted through the air for felt like an age before white sheets billowed out to catch the air overhead, slowing its descent. As the box dropped lower, Hex started the engine again and started to slowly follow the cargos path through the air towards its destination. The crate touched down with a loud whump that sent the birds flying from the trees and its parachute drifted down over top to cover it.

* * *

><p>Hex parked the truck with its rear closest to the giant box and Alpha Force piled out.<p>

They eagerly gazed upon the crate that was about the size of a large car and crowded around to inspect it. There did not appear to be any straightforward way to open the box and it was too heavy to lift onto the truck so Alex pried off one side, a corner at a time with his knife. As the last nails pulled free of their housing the whole side of the box opened to reveal its contents. Inside was a variety of shapes and containers; sacks of rice and grain, green and yellow jerry cans, wrapped bundles of yellow humanitarian rations (HumRats), tied bundles of blankets , stacked panniers marked with a red cross and a large green box at the back with no markings at all. The group's eyes bugged out at the collection.

Alex finally finding his voice cleared his throat. "Alright we found it. Now we just need to have a look at some of this stuff and load it up."

The team kicked into action dropping the back and sides of the Unimog and passing items up to Li and Mitulu who had climbed up into the rear tray. Medical stores and the HumRats were loaded first right up against the headboard followed by the sacks of bulk food. The green boxes turned out to contain several items that Alpha force had requested; a satellite phone with spare batteries, three pairs of night vision goggles or NVGs, a handheld GPS unit, reinforced tactical sunglasses and extra gas cylinders for their cooker.

"Sweet sunnies" Li commented as she hooked a pair.

The others gathered round to secure a pair too and Alex explained. "It becomes really hard driving on the savannah with the sun constantly in your eyes, these should help reduce glare and stop us straining our eyes."

"The fact that they look really cool is just a bonus right?" Paulo joked sliding on a pair of the dark, angled lenses and turning his head to pose, giving his best Blue Steel.

Li laughed at the ridiculous model but was relieved to see her friend acting in a more natural manner. The hurt and confusion in Paulo's eyes had began to fade behind the tinted lenses and he was starting to feel better now they were gearing up to actually help people.

The heavy twenty litre jerry cans turned out to contain water and diesel and were loaded last. "They are different colours so we don't confuse them" Camilla explained with an amused look as if it was a common problem.

With the crate empty, the group had a blast knocking the sides and roof off it before stowing the wooden sides in the truck as well, the parachute was also carefully folded up and taken too. Figuring that some poor village could probably use the wood for houses or something, Alex was also pleased to see that it meant there was nothing left of the crate to indicate its existence, save the flattened grass.

* * *

><p>Climbing back in the Unimog the team started off towards their first village. Amber was at the wheel again and her navigation team had no trouble pointing her in the right direction using the boy's local knowledge and the aid of the new GPS unit. Hex had turned off his palmtop determined to save it's battery until it was needed, instead he busied himself assembling the satellite phone and reading the accompanying message it came with.<p>

The letter detailed the unsecured nature of radio transmission and outlined the protocol for its use. Because transmissions were unscrambled and could be intercepted it was important that messages were short and code words were used to encode their messages. Hex was familiar with the Radio/Telephone operator procedure or RaTel as it was known, it was the standard format for communication in most militaries and was used to send clear concise messages quickly. This would be the format that Hex would have to use for messages and he started memorising callsigns and code words in anticipation of their use.

Camilla smiled across at the focussed boy from London; Alex had made the right decision by entrusting him with the radio.

It was only a further hours drive from the dropzone to the first village. Much like the first one they had encountered, this village consisted mainly of scattered mud brick huts that formed a poor agricultural community. Unlike the other village this one was a hive of activity, men women and children worked the barren land under the morning sun.

With the Unimog still some way out Mitulu told them to stop. "We scare them in this truck, same as army," He explained.

Camilla nodded "The best way to do this is to probably bring over some supplies as a gesture of good will and explain ourselves. Maybe then they may trust us enough to bring the rest of the supplies over in our truck."

* * *

><p>With about a kilometre to the village Alpha force started to unload some basic rations and jerry cans of water. Mitulu and Camilla led the procession towards the village, Camilla's white-bandaged knee was still quite swollen and painful and she limped obviously.<p>

Hex was sweating bullets already in the hot sun, the two jerry cans he carried cut into his hands with their narrow handles and the weight tugged on his shoulders with each step. The hacker remained his usual stoic self though and shouldered his burden with barely a grimace.

Paulo carried his med pack over one shoulder while he had a large sack of rice slung over the other, he was hurting more then he was sweating and had decided to take some pain relief from the medical supplies when they stopped. In spite of the pain he felt happier then he had in a long time, they were finally doing what they had came to do.

Li carried a large box of HumRats precariously balanced in her good arm and braced against her sling; behind her Amber carried a similar load. The two girls didn't talk much, the moment of tension that had passed between them yesterday when Amber explained what had happened in the shed still hung heavily over them. _Does she blame me for what happened?_ Amber wondered.

Finally, at the rear Alex puffed along carrying two jerry cans of water, he actually wore a smile having had similar fitness work described to him by his dad. He did feel a bit like a soldier; riding in an army truck and lugging heavy loads around. With a lot of the immediate pressure removed he actually found himself starting to enjoy the experience. The only thorn in his side was the occasional light-headedness he seemed to feel and the way his vision seemed to swim at times. _I must be pushing it too hard and probably a bit to do with the heat _he figured and slowed his pace a bit.

Mitulu sprinted off ahead of the group when they were about one hundred metres out, from the front Camilla watched as the young boy ran to an elderly man who was leaning in the shade of a house. The child chattered away rapidly, pointing his finger back towards his friends and the direction they had come from. Recoiling with surprise, the man bounced off the wall and started yelling to the people out in the field. Soon a congregation of villagers walked out to meet the overburdened teens, Alpha Force dropped their loads and listened as the village elder addressed them.

"We welcome you to our village. Mitulu tells us you bring much needed food and water, for this we can not thank you enough." Camilla and Amber translated for the group.

The group noticed how skinny the villagers all looked, their dark skin drawn taught across their bones. They were in the early stages of starvation.

Camilla introduced her friends and then pointed back to the truck to which the elder frantically nodded his head.

Turning back to her friends after her brief talk with the elder she explained, "They will not be afraid if we bring the truck forward now and Paulo, the chief indicated that they have sick and injured if you want to attend to them while we unload."

With a plan for helping the people in place, Li ran back to bring the truck over while Paulo took Amber and disappeared towards the nearest hut. The rest of the group, with the help of the villagers carried the supplies they had brought over into the town.

* * *

><p>Paulo and Amber ducked through the low doorway and slowly walked into the darkened room, scanning the darkness they noticed a set of lazy eyes peering back at them from the corner. Paulo walked towards the person as his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he realised it was a woman lying on her side with eyes sunken back into her skull.<p>

Amber was accosted by the elderly husband who desperately explained that his wife had started getting sick and was unable to eat what little food they could provide her. Amber translated this to Paulo, as the boy stuck his hand out to feel her fevered brow, the woman was burning up.

He lifted one of her limp wrists, feeling a very rapid weak pulse, the woman's eyes lay unfocussed in her skull as the boy continued to assess her. Paulo noticed her rapid breathing, her protruding ribs and that she only groaned when he pressed a finger and thumb hard into her shoulder muscle. Next he pinched the skin on the back of her hand and watched as the pinched fold stayed aloft.

Turning to Amber with a grave look on his face he diagnosed her "She's in a state of shock caused by the infection."

His friend's face fell with sadness and horror as she recognised the condition that had almost killed Hex. "What can we do for her?" she asked him quietly.

"If she is able to keep down sips of water we can have her husband give her oral antibiotics; there are plenty in the medical pannier." He replied with a sullen look.

Amber caught the mood of his look and grabbed his face forcing him to look at her. "This woman's probably going to die no matter what we do isn't she?" She confirmed sadly.

Paulo nodded his head miserably in defeat, a single tear rolled down the boy's cheek.

"We can't save them all." He whispered gravely.

"Lets give the husband the antibiotics anyway, she deserves a fighting chance." Amber suggested looking down at the frail woman lying in the dark.

Paulo grunted his agreement and walked out of the hut, careful to hide his eyes from his friends.

* * *

><p>Li pulled the Unimog to a skidding halt in front of village with the rear facing towards the huts. Hex laughed at that, very typical Li; if she had to do it, she would do it in style preferably at high speed.<p>

Simultaneously he and Alex pulled the levers on the tailgate and eased the heavy ladder, which was the rear of the Mog, til it was fully open. As Li slipped nimbly from the cab, Camilla climbed up onto the back to stand among the supplies.

She bit her lip in contemplation as she looked around trying to decide how much to leave at each village, they had another two to visit in the next couple of days so they had to save some for them. Coming to a decision she decided the fairest way was simply to divide the supply into thirds after putting aside a little of each to keep her team running. With her mind made up she started sliding boxes, bags and jerry cans across the wooden deck to the rear where her friends could start unloading it.

Alex was surprised to see the impoverished villages rushing to the back of the truck to eagerly help unload it. He was impressed by their spirit, they looked so frail but seemed to manage the heavy loads as easy as he or Hex did. _I guess when you're starving you have to find the strength to survive_ he figured.

Li watched as Paulo emerged from a hut with his med pack, his head hung low as he moved to the next hut with sick inhabitants. He had looked so determined going in and now he looked so desolate, _I wonder what he found in there?_ She puzzled.

Amber quickly emerged from the same house and came over to silently rummage through the medical pannier that the boys had just lifted off the truck. Standing triumphantly with her desired supplies in hand, Amber returned to the hut briefly before following after the Argentinean. _That was a very reserved Amber also, _Li thought _they definitely didn't find anything good in there._

* * *

><p>Ducking into the next hut, Amber almost ran straight into the broad back of Paulo. He stood stock still in the low doorway staring straight ahead. On the ground in front of him sat a boy a little younger then Mitulu, his attentive brown eyes taking in the two new comers. Amber figured the boy was healthy enough until she saw the two partially healed stumps that were all that remained of the child's legs.<p>

Her hand flew to her mouth and she felt like her heart shattered at the tragic sight. With a forlorn look the mother explained to Amber that the boy had disturbed an unexploded artillery shell while playing by a tree with his friends outside the village. The other two boys had died in the explosion but her son was treated by a doctor that was passing through who had managed to save his life. Paulo's face was torn between anger and pity as he crouched to the boy's height, talking to him softly.

The little boy's face split in a wide grin at the charismatic medic despite not understanding his words. Paulo gave the child his infamous cowboy grin before opening his med kit to retrieve bandages and gauze. Amber translated his intent to the mother and child who eagerly nodded their ascent, before she kneeled to clean and bandage one of the stumps. She earned an approving glance from Paulo who was impressed by her bandaging skills.

"What?" she teased him, "You think you are the only one who paid attention during a first aid course?"

"I'll be out of a job if the others knew," He joked but seriously was having some difficulty bandaging only being able to use one hand.

The young amputee joined them in their laughter and helped make the terrible circumstance of their meeting that much better.

"Painkillers and antibiotics for this brave young man." Paulo suggested to Amber who slunk out of the hut. He ruffled the boy's short hair with his good hand, giving him one final smile before hoisting his pack over one shoulder and walking out into the sunlight again. His spirits lifted through the simple act of helping a sick child and sharing a smile.

* * *

><p>Outside Li, Alex and Hex were using the remains of the crate to fashion a lid for the small village well. Hex had deduced that a shelter would help prevent evaporation of the water inside it and also reduce the risk of contamination by outside agents. The villagers were watching in wonder, learning from their visitors.<p>

Camilla had her own task and was taking water sample of the water from the well; she collected water in several test tubes before dipping thin dipsticks in each one. The skinny devices changed colour in the liquid and her intelligent face sharpened in concentration as she compared the colours from the sample to those in her notebook. She sighed in relief when the tests came back negative for any harmful bacteria or unsafe levels of chemicals.

Her concentration was broken by the shouts of joy as Alex stopped work to kick a flat soccer ball back to some young kids. His blonde fringe bobbed as he was drawn into a ramshackle game of soccer with the youngest villagers, the look of boyish amusement on his face made her smile to herself. _What is it about him? _She wondered to herself quietly as she sat in the shade of a hut content to watch him from a distance. By this stage Li and Hex had joined in the game and the whole crowd cheered as the small oriental girl slide tackled the tall British boy to reclaim the battered ball.

Camilla saw Amber looking on wistfully distracted from the medical pannier and walked over to her.

"Go on then, get in there Amber," The blue-eyed girl encouraged with amusement dancing on her face, "I'll finish the rounds with Doctor Paulo."

Amber looked up from the game excited, "Really? Thanks Camilla you're a babe! He just needs some antibiotics and painkillers." She gushed before leaping to her feet, running into the game and tripping a startled Hex who was making for the goal. Caught in her long legs the hacker was brought to the ground with a scowl, his shot at goal ruined.


	18. Chapter 18

The afternoon sun was high before Paulo had finished his rounds and seen to all the injured and sick in the small village. Illness had ranged from infection, tropical disease to injuries caused by soldiers and the day-to-day life of living in a rough country. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Camilla was strong-headed girl with a good medical knowledge provided by the UN. He did think that maybe she came across to their patients as a little bit hard, but she wasn't put off by any of the horrible problems they saw that day and that earned her a fair bit of respect in his books.

Paulo felt overwhelmed by what appeared to be his responsibility within the group and the lack of resources he had to provide it with. They were well stocked with basic medical supplies but many of the patients they had seen that day required higher medical care that they simply wouldn't receive.

Alex and Amber were hauling the medical pannier back on the truck for Li to secure when Hex opened the hard case containing the satellite phone.

"Time to give a SitRep (Situation/Report)" He declared looking at his watch and turning to the group before asking "Does anyone have anything to add to the report or any requests for our next drop?"

The friends looked at each other questioningly

"I suppose some McDonalds is out of the question?" Li joked.

With a smirk Hex answered "I'll take that as a no."

He removed the phone from it's padded housing switched it on, got out his notebook and started writing.

"Whatcha writing their geek?" Amber teased.

The boy from London looked up annoyed. "Amateur" He scolded "Anytime you have to send or receive a radio message you should write it down if you have the time. It minimises errors."

"Especially since it all has to be encoded and any message they send back decoded." He finished with a condescending look to the ebony girl, before lifting the handset.

"Blue House, Blue House this Alpha One SitRep over." He spoke into the microphone in a clear neutral voice.

The line swung back into static as he released the button on the side of the handset and the group waited.

A female voice emitted from the radio set moments later the words clear despite the scratchy quality.

"Alpha One this is Blue House, reading you loud and clear. Send SitRep over."

Hex took a deep breath before launching into his SitRep. He began by giving a coded grid reference of their location, repeating the number twice to ensure the operator got the message. After another short pause he let the woman on the other end know that the first drop had been received and aid delivered to the first village.

Next reading from his notes and taking a deep breath, Hex delivered a coded message regarding the helicopter they had arrived in.

"Blue House, Blue House, be advised, Big Bird was stoned flying the coop, I say again, Big Bird was stoned flying the coop. Grid to follow."

He rattled off a second grid reference for the helicopter crash site. When this message was acknowledged he passed the headset to Camilla who moved onto the big piece of news they had; the video of the massacred village.

"Blue House, This is Alpha Sunray. Requesting urgent extraction of Mike Charlie Delta. How copy? Over"

The friends were held in suspense waiting what seemed like an age for a reply.

The woman crackled back in reply, "Alpha Sunray, Solid Copy, Earliest extraction is at Delta Zulu Bravo. Over."

The group collectively breathed a sigh of relief before Camilla signed off with. "Blue House, Wilco. Alpha Sunray Out."

* * *

><p>"Mike Charlie Delta? Delta Zulu Bravo?" Li asked confused as they loaded the last of their equipment on the truck<p>

"Phonetic alphabet for Mission Critical Data." Camilla explained "Important information that is not safe or unable to be sent over the radio. Delta Zulu Bravo is Dropzone Bravo; the location of our next supply drop, that is where and when we will get a chance to hand over the information." Her eyes sparked at this thought.

"What is this Alpha Sunray business? I thought we were Alpha One?" Paulo added scratching his head confounded by the entire radio lingo.

"Sunray is the callsign for the commander or boss of a unit, usually a lieutenant or whatever." Alex answered leaning against the Mog and recalling his knowledge about radio callsigns.

"Wilco?" Li asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a shortening of Will Comply and the standard response when receiving instructions." Hex explained patiently as he packed away the radio equipment.

"Why did you say '_I say again_' instead of '_I repeat'_ when you were repeating the part about the crash." Amber asked curious, it did not seem odd to Paulo who's English could be pretty dodgy at times. She felt a little left behind using this militarised radio format, which seemed to have so many more conventions then the nautical and civilian radio channels she was used to working with.

Alex got this one with an enigmatic smile "The RaTel procedure is taken from the military where the word repeat is used to indicate to the artillery units to fire their big guns again at the same spot."

"Ah" Amber exclaimed taken back, "I could see how that could cause problems. So instead you do the whole '_I say again'_ thing?"

"Correct," Hex affirmed, "I'll make a geek out of you yet." He teased.

Amber stuck her tongue out at him and Li rolled her eyes

"Whatever I think I'll let you guys play with the radios." She decided quickly.

The group climbed back into their dusty Unimog and left the grateful village to have its first proper dinner in a long time.

* * *

><p>The next day passed pretty similar to the first with Alpha force handing out supplies to a grateful population and providing basic medical care to another small village. A general feeling of peace and goodwill spread over the team as they saw the affect of their mission for the first time as starving people received food and water while the sick were provided with much needed medicine. The fact that they had to wait another day to handover the video made little difference to Alpha force and they were content finally doing what they had set out to do in the country.<p>

As they left a second grateful village in their wake, Paulo sat in the back of the Unimog exhausted but pleased with a hard days work. Despite the sorry sights of kids deformed by explosives, adults bearing machete or bullet wounds and rampant preventable disease, Paulo decided he still preferred it to being shot at or fighting for his life.

Aside from the good they were doing, Camilla was also pleased to be driving rather then walking, it gave her a chance to rest her sore knee that was still quite tender. She was also pleased with the overall change in mood that had occurred since picking up the supplies. Despite the misery they saw daily in the villages, spirits were high as they worked to help the ailing people.

_We need a stronger UN presence to make a real difference here_ she decided, still not happy with meagre supplies and minimal healthcare they could provide. _It's just temporary_ she reminded herself as she stared out at the shadows stretching longer over the golden grasslands.

Alpha Force was used to the night routine now of camouflaging the truck up and starting with dinner and night duties. Sentry had also become an accepted part of stopping, although it was always conducted with much grumbling especially since Alex had decided to switch back to a dual sentry roster. The only one exempted from sentry duty was their young guide Mitulu despite his protests.

* * *

><p>The mornings were always easier though and the next morning the group packed up in record time, opting to eat their breakfast on the move. With the third and final village of the supply run as their target, the group of youths crossed all terrains with ease in their capable truck. Paulo was quite jealous and a little disappointed that his injured hand exempted him from driving duty and today it was Li's turn to drive.<p>

With her arm shrugged out of its sling, Li drove with her good arm for the majority of the journey, the flat expanse of the plains meant that there was little steering or gear changes required. The terrain was not as flat as it appeared though, it actually undulated frequently in little ridges and hills that were registered only as bumps by the passengers as the Unimogs large wheels powered overtop it all. Every little bump was agony for Li with her fractured clavicle however and she gritted her teeth as she pushed on.

Ambers taunting Asian driver jokes certainly did not lessen her pain. _That is so not fair! _She fumed _Ok so I accidentally turned the indicators on and didn't realise for a while_ _and maybe I can't see over the dashboard very well but hey I think it's going alright. _

All jokes were forgotten as the Unimog traversed a small hill and revealed on the other side a village much larger then the previous two. This village had several large wooden buildings in addition to the smattering of huts and small houses.

Mitulu piped up from his seat, "this is Naione the largest village for miles, they have school, hospital and my brother lives here." He chattered excitedly. This small town was a true hive of activity and their vehicle was soon spotted. Rather then waiting at a distance and approaching on foot they kept driving straight into the village as the villagers waved and beckoned.

"They knew we were coming" Amber excitedly noted, waving back to the people, "they know about us."

"Word travels quickly here regardless of the isolation." Camilla shrugged.

"Maybe the army knows about us too then." Hex muttered darkly.

"You might be right, we should be extra careful from now on." Alex suggested as the truck pulled to a halt, overwhelmed by the crowd that had gathered around it.

When the friends exited the truck a great cheer went up among the community. This time when they unloaded eager dark hands were waiting to catch every single supply before it even hit the ground. The food and water was quickly dispensed and soon Alpha force sat on a nearly empty truck.

* * *

><p>"We should carry these medical supplies across to the hospital" Paulo put forward, rising from his seat on the container and grabbing a handle. Alex grabbed the other end and the two slid it to the end of the truck and climbed off.<p>

"Heck, I'll come for a walk" Camilla decided, "I've always wanted to see the hospital."

"I've got a SitRep to send" Hex explained staying where he was and opening the hard green case."

"Well we're not staying here to get bored by code-boy and his gadgets. Come on Li lets go meet Mitulu's brother." Amber drawled.

"Speaking of gadgets" Hex said with cheeky grin "Each group take one of these." He held out his hand, which contained two small USB sticks.

"Copies of the tape?" Alex inquired raising an eyebrow.

Glad that Alex was quick on the uptake, Hex's smile broadened "Yea just in case you happen to find some means of transmitting it here."

The groups grabbed on each and set off leaving their Signaller to send a message.

Hex didn't mind too much, he would prefer to send the codes in peace rather then explain every little nuance to his friends. He couldn't be in cyber space at the moment but this was the next best thing. Twiddling with the dials before checking the connectivity and leads he withdrew his palmtop and typed out the short message he wanted to send. He then ran the message through coding software he had recently created that translated his words into the code and format he would need to say it over the radio. _Foolproof _he grinned.

* * *

><p>The pannier was heavy and an awkward shape to carry; carried low it bumped against your legs, lifting it higher was made difficult by the single thin handle at each end. Paulo and Alex manhandled the thing to the hospital as best they could, they were both drenched in sweat by the time they arrived at the derelict wooden building. Four burly nurses met them at the door and took the crate off their hands with many mumbled thanks.<p>

With nothing else to do the three friends wandered into the hospital to have a look around. The hospital consisted of one large room with about ten tattered beds spread out around the room and a separate smaller room into which, their pannier disappeared that they could only assume was a store room. A tired looking, pale doctor didn't even look up from his patients as the dishevelled teens entered, with a trace of annoyance he briskly called out.

"I'm sorry we have no free beds at the moment you will have to wait for treatment."

"We aren't actually here for treatment." Alex answered a little bit taken back.

The doctor's head snapped up at the sound of the English accented voice and his eyes widened. Pushing his short fringe of brown hair out of his eyes he stood up and turned to the friends. "My god you are the aid group sent by the UN? Word had spread of your work."

"Thank you doctor" Camilla replied humbly, "but we have done very little so far, we came here to see if we could help at all."

"How rude of me" the man exclaimed suddenly "I'm doctor Neve" he shook hands with the three as they introduced themselves. He gestured down at Paulo's splinted hand, "Would you like me to take a better look at that for you? If we switch on the generator out back we could even do an X-ray." He suggested kindly.

Paulo nodded eagerly and decided to find out more. "A generator? It runs on diesel?"

The young doctor laughed and his faint American accent slid into his speech, "When it does work! I'm a doctor not a mechanic and we never seem to have any fuel."

Camilla's sapphire eyes light up at this. "We have plenty of fuel back at the truck we can bring you a jerry can or two." She offered.

Doctor Neve's jaw dropped, "Really?"

Paulo had taken a liking to the tired looking doctor and added his offer also. "I can have a look at this generator for you too, see if I can get her running any smoother."

The young doctor was speechless at the teens that had stumbled in offering to fix all his problems at once.

Camilla started slowly for the door to go and retrieve some fuel for the good doctor when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder. She pivoted to find the grey eyes of Alex staring back at her.

"I'll get the fuel." He suggested quietly.

"It's fine, I can manage a couple of jerries." Camilla replied an edge of disapproving creeping into her voice.

"I'll get them." Alex insisted calmly.

Camilla threw his arm off her shoulder angrily and met his eyes with a stubborn glare. "Look Alex," She growled at him in a heated tone.

"At first I thought it was sweet of you trying to protect me, but I'm getting a bit fed up here. I'm a big girl, I can look after myself and take just as much as anyone else here."

A hurt shade flashed across the Northumbrian boy's face for an instant before it became something a little softer and he stepped in a little closer to the hot tempered blonde dropping his voice to a hushed whisper.

"I'm not trying to baby you here Camilla, I'm just worried about you okay? You are still limping around on that leg of yours and you aren't telling any of us the half of how much it hurts. I wanted you to stay here so the doctor can have a look at it."

A cold wave of shame doused the flames of anger that had flared in the girl as she listened to the words of the first person she had cared about in so long. _He only wants what is best for me and I tried to tear him to bits_ she realised in shame. Her eyes narrowed shrewdly though as she remembered her original reason for deciding to get the fuel in the first place.

"What about you?' She accused, but in a far gentler voice then before "You are still getting the dizzy spells and blurred vision aren't you? That's why you're not doing any of the driving isn't it."

His grey eyes gave away the truth as he averted her gaze. Camilla slid a hand up to his cheek and turned his face, forcing him to meet her eyes again.

"You don't always have to be the strong one Alex." She softly pleaded with him.

Alex pulled away from her hands and looked away trying to throw his opaque expression back up again. After a few seconds he had gathered his strength and resolve again and looked back at the girl with his slate eyes.

"I'm going," He declared, resolute. "When I come back I'll get the doctor to look at me, but only if he's seen you first." Alex added.

He centred his courage and planted a light kiss on her forehead and turned on his heels to stride from the room. Camilla stood stock still, her feet planted in place as her trembling hand drifted up to the cool spot on her forehead where his lips had touched her skin.

"Damn him" She breathed with a mixed expression on her face as she closed her eyes and tried to steady her heart rate.

* * *

><p>Li and Amber strolled through the village waving to the happy villagers as they tried to locate the house that Mitulu had disappeared into. Amber had wanted the chance to clear the air with Li but neither seemed to want to start the conversation so they walked in silence instead.<p>

Their journey ended up taking them right to far side of the village where they found Mitulu and a larger boy standing out in a large fenced field. Uneven mounds littered the ground; stumps and stick protruded at seemingly random intervals. The field was sheltered from the savannah plains by a rickety looking fence and a large berm. The berm, which looked like a large hill of soil, surrounded the whole Northern side of the village and blocked out a view of the surrounding landscape.

_It's a graveyard_ Li realised with a shudder as the two figures in front of them stood with bowed heads in front of the mounds. Mitulu turned as the girls approached and in a reserved voice he introduced his brother, before gesturing at the ground. "Our parents." He glumly explained.

The two girls nodded silently before bowing their heads in respect for the dead.

Amber ended up breaking the silence, "How did they… go?" She awkwardly asked the boys. Without turning around they replied.

"Mother died giving birth to our little sister and our father was disappeared six months ago by soldiers. He refused to let the army take us away and begged they take him instead." The brother grimly answered.

As if responding to the sad words being spoken the wind kicked up into a howl and blew the acrid dust through the graveyard. Mitulu dropped to his knees and Amber stepped forward to hug him. With a jump like she had been electrocuted Amber withdrew her hands as they closed on something wet and sticky. Turning the boy in her arms shocked she suddenly saw the three dark holes in his chest and abdomen. The boys eyes faded like light moving further down a dark tunnel and Amber dropped the boy in horror and disbelief.

Her world collapsed as the ground in front of her stitched will bullets and the air became filled with hot lead.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N- The much requested next chapter, thank you all for the kind reviews and Enjoy ;) - Grey.**

The haunting howl of the wind caught Hex's attention as he readied to deliver his SitRep, he had taken his time with the radio, first disassembling and cleaning it before putting it back together to use. The dust and sand was relentless in this country and it was notorious for wrecking any electronic device accordingly, regular equipment maintenance was essential. Seeing the green lights wink back at him positively, indicating a connection Hex took a deep breath and depressed the button on the handset.

"Blue House, Blue House. This is Alpha One. SitRep, over."

He released the button and awaited a reply. The same voice with a standard reply issued from the small speaker, it sounded much cracklier then before though and some words were partly obscured by static.

"Alpha One - is Blue House, reading - loud - broken. -Send SitRep over."

Hex frowned this reply meant that their was difficulty hearing him at their end too. Speaking slowly and clearly he delivered the report, repeating where necessary as the signal washed out.

Pausing for a reply, he felt like he had been talking to someone at the bottom of a well who can barely hear you.

The patchy reply caused him great concern.

"Alpha - be advised - Hornets - say again Hornets - recommend - Delta - Bravo for extra-n, I - again - Zulu Bravo - extraction. Over."

Hex felt a cold chill settle over him; Hornets was the code for hostile forces being mobilised in their area. He clasped the handset in shock finally managing to squeeze the button.

"Blue House, Solid copy on Hornets. That's a Solid copy on Hornets. Confirm order to abandon Eggs and extract. Over."

Eggs was the village and its villagers; Hex was reluctant to just leave them at the mercy of the army but what could they do? The reply was the only message that came through clearly and it chilled Hex by it's simple nature.

"Alpha One, Confirmed Abandon Eggs, Extract immediately, Over."

With his heart in his mouth Hex looked out on the peaceful village around them in frustration, they were leaving them to die.

The courage finally came to sign off and with a steely grip he choked the headset.

"Blue House, Wilco, Alpha One Out." He hissed through gritted teeth.

_Damn I've got to warn the others _he realised jumping from the back of the mog noticing a different air to the village. It was then that the Shamal winds died down and Hex heard the sinister sound of distant gunfire that made him slide to a horrified stop.

* * *

><p>The sudden characteristic clatter of an automatic weapon in the distance stopped Alex dead in his tracks, halfway back to the truck, his mind split in two. Should he push forward to where Hex and the girls were or pull back to the hospital to warn Paulo and Camilla? The two urges tore the young man in half and closing his eyes he ran in the first direction his feet carried him.<p>

The difficult decision made for him, his eyes sprang open instantly so he could pick his way back to the truck. He rounded the last building at a flat out sprint that almost ran him straight into a devastated looking Hex.

"The UN has ordered us to bail." Hex admitted in defeat.

Alex just pointed the way that Li and Amber had gone, Hex understood and was relieved to be able to speed off to find them. His chest felt tight with worry and every second hesitating had killed him, Hex was secretly relieved to have Alex turn up and make the decision for him.

For his part Alex turned on the spot and threw every last ounce of speed he had at getting back to the hospital. An explosion right beside Alex threw him from his feet, dashing him against a wall his ears ringing. Another explosion splashed into the hard ground nearby, Alex looked around frantically for the source of the attack.

It was only just before the next wave of heat and shrapnel did he hear the trademarked whine of a mortar shell dropping through the air. A mortar was basically a long steel tube that was aimed into the air and supported by a sturdy metal plate and two pronged legs. It was a simple weapon used to lob high explosive rounds down on targets at ranges of up to a few kilometres, the fire was relatively inaccurate however and great for indiscriminately bombarding an enemy strongpoint.

Feeling the heat and shrapnel on the side of his face and arm, Alex mustered his strength and rose to his feet again determined to reach his friends.

* * *

><p>The splutter of the generator turned into a rumble as he started it up for a second time, <em>much better<em> he decided feeling pleased with the job and the fresh splint he now wore. Walking back into the clinic with a satisfied grin he watched as the doctor finished applying a fresh crepe bandage to Camilla's knee. She sat on one of the chairs and still wore the same expression she had on when Alex had left. _I can see what our boy likes there _Paulo thought with a devious grin admiring the long tanned legs on her. His eyes drifted further up her body as she leaned forward deeply to tidy up the ends of the bandage, _a lot more curves then Li_ he noted.

_I'm perfectly happy with who I got _he decided quickly, averting his eyes and rearranging his face into a more innocent expression as Camilla sat up to look at him.

"What?" She demanded looking at his odd expression.

Paulo cursed silently, innocent was not a look he was used to using.

Alex spared him an explanation; by bounding into the room on his bandy legs, he was fighting for breath and looked quite bothered. The whole right side of his face was deep red and the same side arm was peppered with blood through the sleeve.

_Oh shit! He knew I was checking her out, _Paulo initially thought, before correcting himself seriously, _no something is very wrong._

Alex wavered where he stood and Camilla ran in to help him back into a chair.

"What the hell Alex?" She demanded seriously, "Are you okay? What is going on?"

Alex held up a hand to silence her as he caught his breath. "Soldiers." Was all he gasped before forcing himself back to his feet. All the colour drained from the girl's face, near her the doctor sat down hard on the ground and Paulo felt like his stomach had opened into the abyss.

Alex wobbled a little as he made his way back over to the door; Camilla limped over to him and linked an arm with his shoulder. "Come on we will do this together." She encouraged giving the shoulder a squeeze. Alex quietly appreciated the help, his head was swirling from his mad dash over and his headache was back with full force since start of the explosions.

Paulo turned to the doctor with apologetic eyes. "I am sorry but we have to leave." He quietly added hopefully " maybe we can draw the army from this place."

Doctor Neve was white as milk but nodded his ascent, "All those who can do so should try and make a run for it; they may survive. My duty lies here. I will stay." He decided firmly.

Paulo shook the brave mans hand firmly in respect and admiration.

"Go" the doctor shouted, as they seemed to hesitate.

The three friends burst out into the streets as the explosives rained down and the crackle of gunfire intensified.

* * *

><p>The howling of the wind suppressed the majority of the initial hail of gunfire, because of this Li was unaware they were under attack until a bloody Amber tackled into her and the two scrambled to the cover of the buildings. Li turned to Amber who was covered in blood, patting her friend down quickly, amazed to find no injuries of any kind.<p>

She leaned out from the wall to see the slumped corpse of their guide facedown in the middle of the graveyard, the sudden puffs of dust attacking the ground and wall around her finally alerted her to what had happened. In horror Li called out to their guide's brother in vain as he was riddled with gunfire, his body held up on its knees by the sheer weight of fire. Gruesome splatters of blood tore out of the boy's back taking large chunks of flesh with them as the high velocity rounds ripped a path through his body.

Amber snatched Li back from the wall just as the stitching bullets zipped past in a line where her head had once been. They hammered in impact against the wall sinking deep into the dense material. The girls looked at each; mirror images of terror in there their faces. The wind died down revealing the catastrophic racket of the gunfire, the background noise of screaming and shouting sounding distant. Li and Amber huddled behind the low wall for a minute longer before coming to the decision that they had to move.

Li went first and sprinted from cover in a short bound to a hut a little further back. Amber steeled herself with a deep gasp before rocketing after her ten seconds later; the ground erupted in ripples as bullets traced the ground around her. Their eyes watering from the dust and cordite, the two girls lowered the sunglasses on their heads to cover their eyes before setting off again with another bound. In this way the girls slowly made their way further from the source of gunfire and the ever present spectre of death. With the latest bound Amber noticed with a leap of hope in her chest that the rounds seemed to be missing by a wider margin then before.

This hope was shattered as she looked back and saw the first of the soldiers advance over the berm. They climbed from the prone on top of the berm to a standing, then they began to advance slowly, firing wildly from the hip as they did so. Their rounds thundered into her cover causing chips and dust to fly off, the structure slowly being eaten away at by the sheer weight of impacts. A shout drew her attention and she swung away from the soldiers to see Hex and Li waving to her from cover and beckoning her to them.

* * *

><p>From behind their cover Hex pushed Li up against the wall to reduce her profile, it was a loose wall of bricks that moved slightly with the contact, the mortar long faded away. Hex dared to peer out as his friend made her move towards them; it was only a ten metre bound to the intersection where the wall was. Amber stretched low in a sprinters stance before erupting from cover, making a beeline straight for Hex who waved his arms impatiently. She was three metres away when her head snapped back sharply and her body crumpled to the ground.<p>

A physical blow seemed to shudder straight through Hex as he realised what must have happened. An emptier world dawned in Hex's mind, one without laughter, without smiles, without Amber. A hole scooped right out of his spirit.

Beside him Li blanched in disbelief watching her friend tumble through the air as if in slow motion, she felt something twist inside of her and she searched for a weapon, anything to punish those who had ended her friend. Anger towards the soldiers, towards the whole country, even towards her friends for choosing to come here, overwhelmed her system. Her fingernails scraped as she tore a loose brick from their shelter and hurled it will all her might, before reaching back for another.

Hex looked out in shock at the girl that meant so much to him and suddenly realised that her chest was still rising; she wasn't dead! With a thrill of elation he had never thought he would feel again, his mind went into overdrive. Spotting Li shot-putting like a champion, Hex tensed his muscles and dived from cover. His dive landed him right beside his friend, without thinking he clamped his hands around her arms and launched back into cover.

As the furious brick assault continued, Hex turned Amber over in his arms to find the wound, his eyes caught at a deep scratch on the lenses of her sunglasses. The scratch turned into a narrow gash as it disappeared into her hairline, a small trickle of blood flowed from it.

Amber opened her eyes to look up at him. "Have we been fighting snakes again?" she joked weakly.

Hex was still too choked up and couldn't answer her.

"I'm fine." She explained getting to her feet, "Just a bit rattled by a ricochet or some shrapnel, thought I better play dead til you came for me."

"How did you know I would?" He shouted amazed, his incredulous voice almost drowned at by the gunfire.

"Come on Hex you are always there for me." She reminded him, squeezing his hand.

Hex quickly returned the squeeze before turning to the brick-throwing machine beside him and stopping her hand from fetching another piece of masonry. "That's enough," he shouted in her ear "Ambers okay we have to get out of here."

Life came back into Li's eyes as she saw her best friend crouching behind the cover beside her.

"Don't pull that shit on me again anytime soon Middleton," She warned pulling the girl off her feet and into a tight embrace.

"What is it with all the damn hugging?" Hex yelled exasperated, "We've got to go."

* * *

><p>The other half of the group was having their own problems as mortar rounds rained from the sky sending dirt and shrapnel up in deadly sprays. The distinct crack of small arms fire grew closer and ricochets skipped around the corner after them. Tracer rounds divided the sky, leaving luminous trails and looking like short bars of slow moving red light. They stumbled through the wrecked streets ignoring the dead, the wounded and the dying. A constant scream seemed to pierce the war zone as the people fought in a desperate struggle to escape. Survival was the only thing that mattered and the friends were unable to stop and help the people they saw, it hurt them to do it but the survival instinct overwhelmed them.<p>

It was chaos.

The whistle and boom seemed to change pitch suddenly as the shells made a different noise as the hailed in. A gentler thump issued rather then the usual boom and Paulo noticed the smoke that began rapidly spreading from these different rounds. _Not smoke _he corrected himself as the bitter smog stung his face and lungs,_ Gas! _

"Teargas!" Alex gasped as they had no choice but to push through it. One breath in the gas was all it took to cripple the friends as they hacked and coughed at the rough toxin invading their body.

Forced to her knees by the gas, Camilla looked out through the pale fog with swollen eyes, she could just see Alex and Paulo feet away, struggling equally their faces burning. Tears gushed from her stinging eyes, and mucus ran out of her irritated nose as she coughed violently her body trying to expel the poison. She lost all thought of trying to run as her muscles ached and her whole face and chest felt like it was on fire.

Paulo cried uncontrollably from the agent as he tried to suppress each hacking cough because of the unbearable pain it caused his ribs. He started feeling dizzy from the gas and wondered whether it was possible to die from it's exposure, he wondered briefly if it was even teargas as Alex suspected. His vision blurring, he curled into a fetal ball on the ground racking in pain with each cough.

Alex vomited from the toxic chemical, his face dripping with mucus and fluids like a rabid dog, he felt his vision swim again, he tried to lift his shirt over his mouth but it didn't seem to help. Through the thick gas he could hear the soldiers advance, the gunfire drawing closer. _This is it _he thought_ what a horrible place and a horrible way to die. _His burning eyes managed to find Camilla on all fours in the blur and he crawled a half step closer, just enough to place one hand on hers. The hand turned over in panic and closed around his firmly, glad for the final contact.

Through the rushing in his ears, the occasional crack and accompanying zip of rounds landing nearby seemed to increase. As the corners of Alex's vision were encroached with a dark shroud, he heard the shouting of the approaching soldiers grow louder. His view was invaded by increasing patches of darkness as he sunk into unconsciousness; the last thing he felt was his hand slip from Camilla's grasp.


	20. Chapter 20

Shouts from nearby grew more persistent and shadowy figures were becoming visible through the smoke. They looked very sinister, like an invading alien force in oversized gas masks and carrying rifles.

The swirling gas seemed to change colour, as two cones seemed to illuminate a path from right behind Paulo. He turned around to see two gigantic glowing eyes and to hear a roaring growl that drowned out the nearing gunfire.

His mind vaguely recognised the shape as he coughed harder his vision beginning to darken and he sunk forward.

A slam issued from the beast as two wraiths descended into the mist, their heads huge and bulky, they gathered Paulo and dragged him to the rear of a familiar looking vehicle and pushed him up. They returned for Camilla who refused to go immediately, instead pointing to the still form of Alex lying in the dust. The larger of the two rescuers slung Alex over his shoulder before climbing onto the tailgate, only upon seeing this did the incapacitated girl allow herself to be helped up too.

With a roar and a belch of smoke the beast backed up into where it had came from and swung around to disappear into the countryside.

* * *

><p>Amber and Hex unwrapped the collection of rags, towels and t-shirts they had bundled around their heads and slid off their sunglasses coughing. Hex spat thickly off the tailgate as they escaped into clear air, "That shit is nasty!" he growled. Even with the protection and limited exposure, his eyes were bloodshot and an angry red, tears poured freely down his cheeks.<p>

Amber nodded, coughing away her face burning and her injured throat on fire once more. She turned to evaluate her friends they had just rescued.

Camilla was bent double hacking and coughing, her face hanging right off the truck getting as much fresh air as she could. Her blonde hair stuck out everywhere, spit and snot covered the front of her shirt and her face was swollen and red. _Not an attractive look_ Amber decided with a smirk before realising how terrible she probably looked.

Paulo laid on the deck flat on his back taking tiny shallow breaths his face a swollen mask of pain. He kept muttering something to himself in a tiny voice and kept his eyes squeezed shut.

Beside him Alex was lying on his side in the recovery position just starting to stir. The pale lad looked like absolute hell as he opened his eyes and sat up. His face was drawn and he blinked furiously between tears at the itching and burning that had engulfed his face.

The scowl on Hex's face died and he promptly stopped complaining when he saw how hard his friends had been hit by the gas.

Alex coughed loudly before saying something quietly in a hollow bitter tone. "I'm sorry guys. I wasn't strong enough, that stuff was just terrible."

"The hell are you apologising for?" Camilla snapped at him "It wasted us all no one could stand that sort of torture."

She suddenly realised how glad she was that he was alright and crawled over to pull him into a sticky embrace. It had frightened her beyond belief when he had lost consciousness in front of her and his hand clasping hers had been the only source of strength she could draw on to stay up until they had been rescued.

Alex allowed himself to be embraced, not minding the tears, the mucus or the overall grossness of the hug. He couldn't meet her gaze though feeling weak and after a moment or two he had to break away to lie back down on the deck and close his eyes.

Amber turned to Hex, pointedly ignoring the scene in front of them, "I'm going to get Li to stop and I will climb up the front to navigate for her." She informed him.

Hex shook his head "We're not stopping," he groaned pointing past Amber to the growing shape of military vehicles gaining ground on them.

"Get down!" Amber screamed as the gunfire started again.

* * *

><p>AK fire clattered from the jeep, causing a storm of sparks to dance along the tailgate and the people in the back to dive for cover.<p>

"You've got to get up front and find Li somewhere to lose these guys." Hex yelled in Amber's ear.

"What about you?" she murmured looking unsure.

"I'll take care of this" he gestured at their three disabled friends.

Amber nodded reluctantly and slipped through a gap at the front of the canopy. The wind buffeted her unexpectedly and she held onto the canopy pole for dear life. Slowly reaching up a hand she knocked hard against the glass of the cab until Li heard her and wound down the passenger window.

"This is more your gig Li" she grumbled to herself as the ground rushed by in a blur.

Shakily she reached a hand through the window of the Unimog and managed to find a handhold. Climbing her leg onto the first step she pushed herself further into the vehicle, her leg slipped and for an instant both her legs flailed over the speeding earth before she found a second handgrip and was able to lean into the vehicle for a foothold.

Steadying herself for the final move she part pulled part jumped through the tall window and sprawled into the cab, exhausted.

"Took your time" Li commented pleasantly, her eyes pinned to the ground in front of truck.

Panting, Amber climbed into a seat and removed a map from the glove box. "Can we out run them?" She asked Li ignoring the earlier jibe.

"In this bucket?" Li snorted "For all the bragging Paulo does about the Unimog it can barely make 90k on a flat piece of road. Offroad the max we are making is maybe 75 and it's bumpy as hell."

"Ok so we're slower" she conceded, "But I bet we can go places that jeep can't. What does that say on the bonnet? Maximum fording depth?"

"You thinking what I am thinking Li?" Amber asked giving her friend a crazy grin.

"Find me a river baby" Li cockily crowed.

* * *

><p>In the rear there was a lot less to be happy about, the multiple holes in the canopy were testament to how many rounds were being fired their way. There was a pause in the fire as the gunman reloaded fumbling another magazine into his weapon. Behind the jeep, a Technical speed along slowly catching up to the Unimog, the man on the machine gun unable to fire with the friendly jeep between himself and the target.<p>

On the floor Alex noticed a jerry can of water right beside him with a bullet hole in it. Without thinking he put his face to the hole, letting the cooling water wash over his stinging face, he put his mouth to the hole greedily drinking the water as it drained. Out of the water his face immediately started stinging again but Alex felt a bit better then he had before.

Seeing his friends' frightened faces pressed to the floor he yelled across to them coolly. "Hey, anyone want a drink while we are down here?"

He slid the leaking jerry across the floor to his friends who drank their fill and washed their stinging faces. A slightly refreshed group stared back at him with determined bloodshot eyes, Alex rolled to face Hex at the rear "Thanks for getting us out back there mate, we were toast."

Hex's grin turned to a grimace as the shooter started up again, spraying the back with rounds.

"Get rid of this guy and I'll call us even." He shouted angrily. The high speeds they travelled at and the bumpy terrain meant that they were difficult to hit at this range but they were still clearly in serious danger.

Paulo turned to peek over the rear tray just as a round zipped off a pole and ricocheted past his head.

"Dios" He muttered noting the jeep closing the distance before the loose canopy flapped up in his face obscuring his vision. An idea suddenly struck the teen, "Do we still have the parachute?" He urgently asked.

A little confused, Hex nodded and leopard crawled to the spot at the front corner where the silken sheet was stowed in a small bundle. He crawled back over and laid the bundle in front of Paulo, looking up at him expectantly.

"They can't hit us if they can't see us right?" He revealed with a cocky grin.

Hex caught the plan quickest "So we deploy a parachute on them? It's a good idea but I don't know how long it would slow them down for though."

"But what if it was on fire?" Camilla suggested with a mischievous smile sliding over a yellow jerry can.

Alex returned her smile "I like it. Will it work?" he asked looking at Paulo and Hex.

Hex pondered for a moment before answering, "Technically? Yeah it should, the wind will catch it quickly and should blow it straight onto their vehicle."

Paulo nodded his agreement "If we wait til they are close and release it by the strings it should get the most air."

Alex looked pleased, "Good, douse a couple of the parachords with diesel, keep a couple dry for us to hold. I'll pop up front and let them know what's happening."

* * *

><p>Using his forearms and knees he crawled to the front of the truck and waited. As soon as there was lull in fire as the jeep reloaded Alex braced to his feet on failing muscles and climbed through the gap in the canopy.<p>

His vision faded in and out of focus as he stood at the front of the canopy and a wave of dizziness suddenly hit him, almost causing him to fall.

Alex stood in front of the canopy hanging onto a pole as he tried to control the distortion in his head, _come on focus _he commanded internally. By force of will, his vision seemed to sharpen again and the world stopped careening in his head.

He was pleased to see the window was already open as the wind resistance punished his lean frame. Alex was about to shimmy across to the window when the door was pushed open instead and he felt the push of the wind drop away, causing a wave of relief to wash through him. A small black hand was hanging out the opened door in his direction, while a brown desert boot braced the door open. Gratefully he clasped the hand and was assisted up into the cab. With his legs clear of the ajar door it was allowed to slam shut.

The boy turned to look at the two females in the cab.

"Thanks" He muttered sheepishly his eyes flowing afresh from the harsh wind.

Li smiled mockingly at his tear filled face, "I know it's emotional seeing us again Alex but really?"

Amber giggled and Alex had to fight down a laugh as he wiped his pouring eyes.

Putting on a serious voice he steered the conversation back towards business. "We're putting together a distraction to slow these guys down, do you guys think you can lose them?"

"Yea we got this one cry-baby" Amber teased, "We will lose them in this river about four kms from here. You guys have got about five minutes to pull it off."

"Right" Alex said, ignoring the insult and climbing back out the window without another word.

* * *

><p>The three remaining friends had finished setting up their trap by the time Alex slipped back into the rear of the truck. Diesel fumes filled the canopy and restarted the coughing fits until it dissipated. Still feeling a little light-headed from the fumes Hex pulled one side of the rope taught against the left side of the Unimog and around a canvas pole as Paulo did the same on the right.<p>

Camilla popped up just longer enough to judge the distance of the vehicle behind them and haul the parachute onto the top of the rear-tray. The jeep trailed behind them at about fifty metres, the dark soldier standing in the back was frantically trying to find a fresh magazine. Only five metres behind the jeep, the Technical was gaining speed and looking to manoeuvre in front of the friendly vehicle so it could engage with it's heavier hitting machine gun.

Alex hustled up next to Camilla and took out his small container of waterproof matches and finding the two chords they had designated as fuses. He was about to strike his first match when Camilla covered his hand with hers.

"My plan I should light the fuse." She insisted firmly.

Feeling time was too precious to argue he wordlessly handed her the matches and instead dropped the bottom of the parachute off the back of the Mog. It only took a couple of seconds for the draft to catch the billowing white sail of silk and inflate it. This was all the time Camilla needed to light the two fuel soaked ropes and seeing the flames start to run up the ropes Alex dropped his hand signalling for the two boys to release the trap.

The white sheet shot away from the Unimog at tremendous speed trailing two thin flaming chords.


	21. Chapter 21

The Jeep following behind Alpha Force watched in confusion as a white shape had begun to emerge from the back of the truck and completely cover the rear of the vehicle. Soon the Unimog was occluded from their vision and they only realised at the last minute that the billowing white shape was hurtling towards them silently. They would have shot it if they had any ammunition left, instead the driver managed to swerve just in time, narrowly avoiding the great sheet.

The Technical behind them was not so lucky and did not realise something was amiss until the jeep in front frantically swerved. At this point it was too late and an enormous white shape engulfed the black pickup truck. The driver screamed in terror as his vision was completely whited out and on the back his gunner screamed all the more as the fire finally caught up to the silken chute.

_Parachutes burn really fast _Paulo realised, watching the Technical disappear completely in flames behind them. Hex and Alex were also a little shocked at the suddenness that the fire engulfed the doomed vehicle and how quickly the flames grew.

Camilla hid her eyes from the scene as she considered the people inside the truck who had became trapped by the sheet and were now destined to die a slow painful death. She felt no remorse for the men that would have done considerably worse to her but she just wished their could have been a better way to stop them. _Maybe we didn't need to light it on fire_ she considered guiltily, her bloodshot eyes had no more tears to shed.

In the cab Li's eyes boggled in shock as she caught sight of the groups trap in the wing mirror.

"Damn" She commented "That's one way to slow them down."

Amber leaned across to check her mirror and her mouth opened in amazement.

"How did they manage to do that?" She exclaimed her eyes pinned to the flaming wreck behind them.

"Still one on our tale" Li reminded her and they refocussed on making it to the river.

* * *

><p>No sooner had she said it did the thick grasses give way to the muddy banks of a river, the banks sloped into a ten metre wide band of water. The water was the exact colour of the mud and of the crocodiles lazed sleepily on the banks. Reptilian eyes sprung open as the rumbling giant of a truck approached spewing smoke and tearing up the mud under wide wheels.<p>

Remembering Paulo's instruction for obstacle crossings she switched the driver settings from four-wheel drive across to diff or differential lock. This meant that the vehicles tires would all turn in unison, which significantly increased traction.

Accelerating into the upcoming water, the whole vehicle shuddered as it ploughed into the murky water and its large wheels powered it through the rising water. Water rose to almost the top of the tyres as it pushed through the water creating a massive bow wave that frightened away the crocodiles on shore.

For a fleeting moment of terror Amber felt the vehicle come to a halt as it lost traction before the front wheels found a solid grip in the shallower water and pulled the Unimog out. Traction and speed increased the shallower the truck became as it passed half way and emerged on the other side. Water bucketed from the wheels and under carriage as the big vehicle cleared the water and Li switched it back over to four-wheel drive again.

Her face ablaze with excitement, she turned to her friend who wore a similar expression.

"Well I think that's the last time I hassle Paulo about liking this thing." LI admitted as she patted the dash.

"It's the last time I hassle you about your driving too Li, that was amazing!" Amber conceded with a look of respect.

In the back the rest of Alpha force breathed a sigh of relief as the wheels touched down on solid ground again. Paulo was oddly silent; he was completely gutted he hadn't gotten to do a river crossing but at the same time was very proud of Li for pulling it off. The spectators in the back watched as the jeep approached the river and speed up for its attempt at crossing. Before it had even entered Paulo could see there was no way it would make it and a look of amusement crossed his face as he settled in to watch them try.

The Jeep pulled through the mud on the bank fine, but came to a dead stop no more then three metres into the water. The driver tried to put the jeep in reverse but it was in vain and he soon gave up. Sitting in the middle of the river the inhabitants of the jeep realised that their vehicle was not as efficient at crossing rivers as the Unimog. Nor was it as efficient at scaring away crocodiles it seemed, as the scaly reptiles began to drift closer to the stuck vehicle curious and hungry.

* * *

><p>Free of any following vehicles, Alpha Force adjusted their trajectory to head towards the extraction at Dropzone Bravo. Not even five minutes later however, the Unimog started to shudder as it drove, the engine tone alternating over the next kilometre before cutting out altogether. Li looked down at the dash and noted that various red lights that flashed back at her.<p>

Hex climbed down from the back, and began helping his injured friends down too. Alex came first, still looking extremely pale, his skin drawn tight across his features. Every muscle trembled in him as he shakily climbed down the metal tailboard. His eyes were still very bloodshot and watering from the teargas and Hex noticed that he had a slight wheeze when he breathed.

Camilla came next, looking almost as bad as Alex, her usually glossy blonde hair was dull with dust and splayed out in all directions from her head, most of it plastered to her exhausted face. She climbed down on only three limbs as she tried to keep any weight off her bad knee. The once white bandage that encased it was now a dull brown from a mix of the village's dusty soil and dried blood. The usually pretty girl winced in agony as she finally made it to the ground and had to tentatively use her injured leg for balance.

Finally Paulo slowly climbed down, like Camilla he was only using three limbs as he carefully held his broken hand to his body to avoid knocking it during his descent. His breathing was rapid and shallow still due to the pain from his broken ribs. Of all of their friends he was probably the worst off and in the most pain. Curiosity and duty overcame his pain however and he slowly walked around to the front of the vehicle where Li and Amber had lifted the bonnet.

After a brief inspection he walked around to the rest of the Mog at a crouch inspecting the undercarriage and lines that ran along the side of the vehicle. The whole rear and undercarriage was a mess of raw metal, shredded wires and tubes, the complete length of it was littered with bullet holes. He stopped just behind the cab where Hex was knelt with a serious look on his face. The hacker lifted his hand to show the fuel that was covering his fingers and then gestured under the vehicle. Paulo took one short look at the catastrophic damage before straightening with a sad nod,

"I can't fix this," He admitted "We took a lot of rounds and have multiple systems damaged, it's a miracle we made it through the river really."

"So now what?" Amber asked the group, "We have got just under forty kilometres to go to the extraction point and no vehicle to get there."

"We could easily get a helicopter in here," Li gestured around the flat grassy plains, "So lets call them up and move our extraction."

"I don't think that's going to be possible" Camilla called from the rear of the Unimog as she limped over with the hard green case that contained the radio. A cluster of large holes penetrated the container leaving little doubt that the radio was unusable.

Alex's heart dropped a little lower with each new development.

* * *

><p>"So it looks like we are walking after all?" Amber announced glumly, looking like she wanted to cry.<p>

"It's going to be tight," Hex concluded looking at his watch apprehensively, "it is 1305 now and the bird is due at 2030 we would really need to be hoofing it."

Alex looked around at the group seriously, "I don't know if we can make that kinda speed as a group."

Paulo shook his head sadly in defeat, "I don't think I could make it guys, I struggled with five hundred metres getting back to the Mog."

Camilla lowered her head in shame, "My knees still pretty bad actually, I would just slow you guys down."

Li put her good arm around the downcast girls shoulder.

Alex's eyes blazed with a quiet determination, "We split up then, send one fast group to meet the chopper and bring it back here to pick up the wounded."

Hex nodded in agreement matching the other British teens hard stare, "Yeah! Me, Alex and whoever else feels strong enough, makes a break for dropzone."

Amber saw the hope in Hex eyes and knew she must go with him, "Count me in," she decided. The effects of the teargas were starting to fade because of the small dose she was exposed to and she was relatively unscathed aside from that.

Beside her Li shrugged her bad shoulder experimentally, seemingly satisfied she piped up "Me too." The pain wasn't to bad when it was slung and apart from that she felt in pretty good shape having had no exposure to the tear gas.

In a small voice, that seemed to shake the group all the same, Alex answered,

"I'm out."

His comment was followed by a dead silence as the shocked group glanced over at their friend. Seeing their eyes upon him he sighed heavily and looked at his feet before elaborating.

"I'm not up to it," he explained "I still haven't been quite right since the crash and this tear gas almost put an end to me. As much as I want to go I would just slow you down."

Alex was the strongest endurance athlete among them; he always seemed to be able to go just a little bit further or a little bit longer then the rest of the group. His rangy physique meant his strides seemed to carry him further with each step and he was always there to support the others and help push them ever onwards.

The loss of Alex on the massive tab to the DZ was a knock to the morale of everyone in the group.

The silence stretched as the friends stared at the teen from Northumbria completely lost for words. Camilla broke from the group and limped over to wrap a supportive arm around his waist.

Hex was the first to overcome the blow to the group's morale; he looked at his grey-eyed friend with something resembling pride. _For Alex to admit that took a fair bit of courage, _he thought.

Amber seemed to read his mind as she answered in a strong voice "Don't worry Alex, we won't let you down there's three of us still going and we will make it."

At her words, a small glimmer of appreciation managed to push past the shame in Alex's face. He nodded in approval, they had a lot to prepare for the extraction group and not much time to do it in.

First they added their current location on the GPS unit so the group could return and find them. Next they loaded the light rucksacks the group would carry, they divided the food and water so they had something to keep them going and leaving the rest of it with the group that was staying. A small first aid kit was placed in Amber's rucksack and two pairs of night vision goggles were given to the group. With all their laces firmly tied and their pack straps tightened the extraction group turned to farewell their friends.

The girls all shared hugs as Hex clasped Paulo's good hand and then Alex's right.

"Keep them safe _amigo_." Paulo said with a firm pat on his friend's shoulder. Before wandering off to farewell Li.

"Thanks Hex" Alex spoke earnestly, relieved that the reliable hacker from London was there to be strong in this time when he couldn't.

"Don't worry about it Alex, we'll come back with the chopper." He reassured him before adding with a wink "you'll live."

Alex chuckled at the private joke and clapped Hex's shoulder firmly before letting him pass.

Behind them Amber pulled Camilla in close and whispered in her ear.

"Look after Alex okay?"

"Always" Camilla reassured her with a squeeze and let her go to face an amused Li who had heard the exchange.

Paulo smothering the small Asian girl in a giant one-armed hug saved her from a taunting comment.

With the farewells all done the extraction team turned and briskly walked off into the distance.

With his friends fading into the distance, Alex considered what needed to happen next for those that were staying behind in the dry midday heat. He eyed the Unimog sitting out conspicuous in the grassland and decided that should be the first order of business.

"Paulo," He called to the Argentinean who was still watching his friends disappear into the distance. "We need to cam up the Unimog as quick as we can, it stands out too much if anyone comes looking for us."

Paulo nodded tiredly and headed to the side of the truck as Alex climbed on the roof and passed him down the cam poles and netting. Camilla reluctantly climbed to her feet and helped Paulo spread the net and peg in the corners. It took about twenty minutes but the group managed to erect the cam net shelter and put up the tent inside it too. Alex walked outside to survey the scene and was pleased with the dull mound the truck now presented as.

* * *

><p>Hours passed with Paulo flopped down on his bed in the tent asleep and the other two finding ways to keep themselves busy.<p>

Just outside the tent Camilla sat leaned against the truck in clean clothes with a small basin of non-drinking water and a washcloth trying to clean herself up a bit. The water was soon a dirty brown colour as she wiped most of the filth off her face and out of her hair. She changed the water in the small basin and peeked her head inside the tent to check that Paulo was truly asleep. Camilla carefully peered through the gaps in the netting and discerned the form of Alex slumped against a tree in the shade. Satisfied she would not be disturbed, she wet the cloth before proceeding to clean the rest of herself with it under her clothes.

She had barely started, when Alex suddenly appeared at the opening of the netting, he stopped in mid-step with a look surprise and embarrassment as Camilla quickly whipped the cloth out from under her shirt.

_Damn he can move quietly _she cursed in embarrassment as he stared with his jaw dropped.

"Field bath" She mumbled embarrassed, as he quickly broke from his paralysis and averted his gaze from her.

"Ah don't mind me," He muttered quickly disappearing to the back of the Unimog, where she heard a ripping noise. Curious, she dropped her washcloth and pushed off the Mog to her feet. Limping around the corner she saw Alex cutting away with his knife at some of the excess scrimmage that hung off the Unimog.

"What's that for?" she asked puzzled.

Alex looked up in surprise, "Just a precaution" he assured her

"Against what?" she demanded crossing her arms across her chest and giving him a perilous look.

Alex gulped at the scrutiny and stopped what he was doing to answer her. "Well we didn't make it very far from the river, the army is probably still searching for us so I decided to make some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" she inquired in the same tone, her eyes demanding an explanation.

_Jeez I can't keep anything from her can I? _He realised.

"I've just been making some jackets and things that will help us blend in more if we have to" he explained guiltily.

She laughed out loud having expected booby traps or something equally dangerous.

This further seemed to confuse Alex more and in an effort to appease her he asked, "Do you want to help?"

Pleased for something to do Camilla eagerly agreed.

* * *

><p>"So the first thing we do is create a long poncho out of scrim like this." He demonstrated using the blade to cut out a basic shape and a neck hole, leaving a strip to tie around the waist.<p>

The two sat in the shade of a tree about twenty metres from their camp with a bundle of resources Alex had collected.

"Then we stitch and tie small bits of scrim and camo net. Finally we add bits of the natural landscape like the long grass or bits and pieces of the plants or trees."

Camilla looked at the finished product that Alex held up for her to see, it looked like a long earthen coloured mat that had been sewn into a long coat. She could see he had already fashioned one coat and that he had added an overlayer of the material to a couple of pairs of their khaki trousers. There were also three modified hats that now looked like scruffy hoods made out of the dry bush itself.

Sceptically, Camilla turned to the boy who wore an energised grin, "Does it really hide you very well?" she asked carefully, expecting his enthusiasm to fade.

Instead the teen's grin doubled, "Want a demonstration?" He asked, before donning a full suit to look like a living bush and gesturing for her to turn around.

After ten seconds she turned to find Alex nowhere in sight.

Amazed, she stood and looked around the clearing to the scraggly bushes and across the knee-high grass that surrounded her.

"Alex?" She finally called in defeat glancing all around her.

The ground in front of her suddenly moved causing her to leap back.

"You called?" Alex asked coolly with a smarmy look on his face as he stood up not two metres from her. The smarmy look was wiped from his face as she slapped him hard on the arm for scaring her.

Impressed despite herself the girl admitted, "Okay that was pretty awesome."

Alex's smile flourished under the praise, "My dad taught me how to make them, it's called a Gillie suit, it works like magic as long as you stay still. Man we used to have the best games of hide and seek." He reminisced.

Camilla chuckled as she settled down to create her own suit that would render her invisible.

* * *

><p><strong>AN- **Not long to go now :O


	22. Chapter 22

The rest of Alpha force was not having such a relaxed time. Amber was navigating at the front with a compass and using the GPS occasionally to check they were on course. Behind her, Li pushed her shorter legs to match the group's speed; her job was to stay alert to their left and right flanks for any hazards like soldiers or wildlife.

At the rear Hex set the pace they had to maintain to make the extraction and it was a punishing one. He felt responsible for their group and was adamant that they keep up the relentless pace. They had been walking for hours now and the landscape had begun to darken before their eyes.

The group was showing signs of fatigue though and Hex decided it was time for their first rest, he whistled and gave the halt signal. He figured with the pace they had been travelling it would compensate for any slowing from fatigue at the later stages of the journey. It was a fragile balance to forge but he thought that they had it right.

The three friends sat down in a huddle facing outwards and immediately whipped out their water bottles. They leaned back on each other creating a comfortable seated position and an effective all round sentry.

"How long can we rest for?" Amber asked, dreading the answer.

"Ten minutes no more." The hacker decided.

Li mumbled her disapproval through a mouthful of water.

"Make sure you both get something to eat too" Hex added, focusing his attention on Amber.

"Should we get out the NVGs now so we don't have to stop for them later?" Li asked the others.

Amber nodded her head, "Sounds like a good idea. Besides the light is fading fast, we may need then sooner rather then later."

"We are over halfway," Hex mentioned, trying to raise the group morale, when secretly he was worried by the fatigue he saw in his friends during their rest. He too felt tired beyond belief and unfocused; he had to keep reminding himself to check the pace.

The bulky watch on his wrist beeped and he sighed in resignation, as he pushed himself to his feet.

"That's us," He declared, reaching over to pull the other two to their feet. Amber and Li grumbled, but were grateful for the help up.

_The others are counting on us _Li reminded herself as they set off once more, ignoring the protest her body made and the incessant urge to sleep.

* * *

><p>Paulo awoke to find himself alone in the tent, the last light of the day spilling through the open canvas. He felt well rested and decided to get up and see where Alex and Camilla had got too. He soon found them asleep outside the cam net by a tree, surrounded by the most bizarre collection of scrappy looking clothes he had ever seen. They were leaned up against a wide tree peacefully, with Camilla's head resting on Alex's chest, his arm secure around her shoulder.<p>

Paulo's face twisted into a grin at the adorable image and he tossed up whether or not to wake them.

An odd silhouette on the horizon decided it for him and he clasped a hand over Alex's mouth and shook him awake. Whatever reaction he had expected, it wasn't Alex's eyes flashing open with a hard glaze to them and in one smooth motion drawing his knife from it's sheath.

Paulo let go and stepped back quickly, waiting a moment until Alex became orientated to his surroundings and recognised his friend.

"Sorry Paulo" He mumbled, embarrassed at the fright on the bigger teens face.

Paulo just held a finger to his lips and pointed to the shapes on the horizon.

Alex jumped to his feet and held a hand above his eyes to block the last rays of light.

Standing out against the background of light were people.

Blood seemed to freeze in Alex's veins, as the new development dawned on him. Pulling Paulo to the ground with him, he threw him the larger of the complete Gillie suits.

"Put that on," He hissed, before turning to wake Camilla.

The girl awoke a lot more peacefully and smiled, as the first thing she saw upon waking from her pleasant doze was Alex's face. The pleasant feeling dissipated at the worried expression he wielded and how much darker it was now in comparison to when she dozed off. Beyond him, she saw Paulo climbing into his Gillie suit and decided that she should do the same.

Satisfied with the two getting changed, Alex crouch-ran back to the tent and retrieved the friends DPM patterned daypacks. From the top of his he drew several items, the first was their pair of night vision goggles which he strapped over his head and dropped the eyepieces over his face. The world changed to an eerie pale green, as he looked out on the savannah like it was a well-lit day once again. In the grainy, pale green world he could see a line of uniformed soldiers walking in their direction, they were roughly 1500 metres away he estimated.

Cursing himself for his carelessness, Alex dashed back to the tree and frantically threw on his Gillie suit.

Looking around he didn't see his friends at all and had to quietly call out before they moved and got his attention. They were lying prone in the shadow of the tree, facing the direction the soldiers were coming from; he passed each their daypack and set his down.

With the second little box in his hand, he dashed back over in the direction of the Unimog before returning much slower a few minutes later.

He crawled close to his friends and whispered to them, "We need to move further from the truck, lets crawl into that nasty looking bush and wait there."

His comrades nodded at him before carefully crawling a further fifty metres to hole up underneath a particularly thorny scrub. Alex moved slower then the others and seemed to leaving something behind them as he moved. They were just settling down in the bush when Alex passed the NVGs to Paulo for a look.

The Argentinean dropped the goggles down in front of his vision and was shocked to see how close the soldiers were to their position now, no further then a hundred metres away. With a cold tingle down his spine he realised that their current course would have them run straight into the Unimog.

Oddly enough, with the vision of an owl he was able to see several narrow lines that seemed to run towards the Unimog from their hiding place. He disregarded this last part with a shrug and passed the goggles to Camilla for a look.

The three friends went stock-still as boot crunched the ground right in front of their faces.

Soldiers walked past, close enough to lean down and touch them. Men walked by so close that Camilla was sure they must be able to hear her rapid breathing or racing heart.

The three teens spirits fell, as a shout came from one of the troops and the platoon rushed towards where a man was pointing.

* * *

><p>Hex looked at his watch, it was truly dark now and he trundled along blindly after Li and Amber, who wore the NVGs. He was finding it harder to track their progress, as they drew closer to their objective. His mind was dulled by exertion and the muscles in his legs ached from the prolonged walking. Regardless, he pushed on, knowing there was no alternative.<p>

In front of him, Li struggled on also; she couldn't remember ever having walked so much in her life and her legs screamed at her to stop. Li knew from experience that it wasn't an option; as soon as you stopped in this state your legs seized up and starting again was almost impossible.

She tried to make the most of the advanced piece of equipment that shaded her eyes. Alex had explained to them how it worked to magnify what were small amounts of ambient light to give the wearer an illuminated view. She quietly marvelled at the technology and felt a little guilty for depriving Hex of the opportunity to have a play.

At the front Amber was fading fast, her mind screamed for sleep and the constant activity of checking the compass was the only thing keeping her awake. All her muscles seemed to burn with effort and the small rucksack on her back seemed to weigh a hundred kilos. Her legs were probably doing the best; honed by years of wandering department stores and later through running and horse riding. She glanced at her GPS and hoped the figures it showed were correct, if so they were just about there.

In the back of her mind she hoped the others were alright back in camp and a large part of her envied them sitting around cosy in the tent. _They're probably having dinner about now_. The thought of dinner roused her to dip into one of her pouches and retrieve a couple of high calorie snack bars to munch on.

* * *

><p>Dinner was the furthest thing from her friend's minds as enemy soldiers swarmed towards the camouflaged Unimog. With attention drawn away from their position, Alex dared to move and reached across for the NVGs, which he placed back on his head quickly. He could hear Paulo and Camilla breathing fast beside him, as dozens of soldiers ducked under the netting to search the truck and tent. Alex was quietly looking around the clearing and when he noticed the entirety of the platoon crowded around the vehicle, he reached underneath his jacket for his detonator.<p>

Paulo's mind flashed in recognition, as he remembered the trail he had noticed leading to their position and he realised what Alex had done when he headed back to the truck for the second time. His eyes swung to the detonator in Alex's hand and something cold inside of him fluttered.

Concerned, Paulo clasped the boys shoulder, "We don't have to kill them Alex." He whispered imploringly.

Alex turned to meet his friend's eye with a sad look,"No more killing, not if we can help it." He promised.

With that he pressed the button on the detonator.

A small bang resounded from the Unimog, barely louder then a gunshot, it was followed by shouts, as flames began to climb the sides of the Unimog and the troops fled from the cam net.

Paulo, who had been expecting some huge explosion, uncovered his ears and looked at his friend suspiciously. Alex wasn't done yet and he pressed another button on the detonator; two metres from the truck another small explosion detonated sending up a shower of dirt over the terrified soldiers.

Camilla got to detonate the next one, which was even closer then the last and caused most of the troops to turn tail and run. Paulo delightedly, detonated the last couple just for good measure, hastening the soldiers' retreat as the truck and netting burned beside them.

"A tiny piece of plastic explosives on the fuel tank and some more small charges scattered around the area." He explained with a wink.

"That was pretty smart Alex," Camilla admitted, "Now they might think we booby trapped this whole area and it may keep them away for bit."

Paulo shot Alex his cowboy grin, still exhilarated from getting to detonate something, "Admit it though, you must have considered creating a huge bomb with all the explosives right?"

A guilty look crossed Alex's face, "I might have," He admitted awkwardly.

To his surprise, Camilla leaned across to him and kissed him on the cheek, blushing he turned to her as she explained.

"I'm so proud of you, I saw how broken you were after my apartment and never wanted you to go through that ordeal again."

"So that's why you took the fuse off me this afternoon?" He probed.

Camilla nodded shyly, her eyes down. "We're supposed to be working as a team right? That means we share our burdens."

Alex nodded "But Paulo was right too, we shouldn't have to kill people to get a job done. I don't expect to place that burden on my friends."

Paulo was pleased with this summary but felt obliged to add to it. "Just for the record; it was an accident what happened to the soldier back in the shed with me…"

Alex put a hand on Paulo's shoulder, as their faces were light by the mighty blaze. "Hey noone blames you for anything there Paulo, you were defending yourself and Amber. That soldier would have done worse to both of you, he was stopped the only way you could."

Paulo felt as though a weight was lifted from his shoulders, by the quiet understanding of his friend.

"I would have done anything just to stop the guy, I was so desperate." Paulo admitted forlornly.

"I know the feeling brother." Alex sighed, "I felt the same way at Camilla's flat."

"But you know what bothered me most about the whole killing thing?" Alex continued, "I felt nothing."

"Nothing?" Camilla asked gently, troubled by the idea.

"I didn't feel a thing the moment that knife left my hand." He answered softly, a conflicted expression drowning his face. "Nothing." He spat.

Camilla's eyes betrayed concern but her voice was level as she pressed him about it.

"Tell me about it." She pleaded.

Alex stared off into the middle distance "I felt angry and desperate before I killed him; concerned about your safety and I felt relief afterwards when we got away. But the moment I hit him and watched his life ebb away? Nothing. Nothing at all. Afterwards I felt guilty, but not for what I had done, but more like for what I hadn't felt: I felt guilty for not feeling guilt, sorrow or remorse. Subhuman for not being affected by the event."

Paulo spoke up again, as Camilla searched out Alex's hand. "After my battle I was just so horrified with myself. I had ended another creature's life. It is a complete contradiction of what I've always tried to do, which is help and fix things; animal, man or machine."

Camilla reached to squeeze the other boy's hand too as she listened to the uncertain tone in his voice. "You did the right thing Paulo, you were defending yourself and Amber." She reassured him.

"And Alex, you were just rescuing me, god knows what that creep would have done if you hadn't stopped him. It was a sign of how human you are that you care so much that you are prepared to do anything in order to save those you care about." She finished with a warm look at the teen from Northumbria, who still looked edgy.

Paulo had to break things up before it became uncomfortable for him in the hide. "Uhh I hope the others are having more luck then we are." He mumbled.

* * *

><p>Miles away, the rest of Alpha force was trudging along, their spirits at an all time low when Amber stopped in her tracks and looked at the GPS unit.<p>

"We are here," she said in weary disbelief.

Li did a quick double take to make sure she had heard her friend right.

"You mean at the extraction point?" she excitedly asked.

Amber turned, her face illuminated by the glow of the GPS screen and nodded. The three friends promptly dropped to the ground exhausted. Hex heard the two girls doze off almost immediately and he had to fight the urge to do the same. His eyes were heavy when he checked his watch; they had made it with just four minutes to spare. Shaking the sleep from his head, Hex reached into his daypack and fished out a red chemical break light.

This kind was special because the chemicals mixed to give off a signature that could be picked up by infrared scopes, thus making it easier for the helicopters to see then a regular light source. It was also a lot more tactical and didn't give away their position to the low-tech army in the area, like a light would. In the distance he heard the faint low rumblings of a helicopter and he cracked the short chemical stick and started shaking vigorously, mixing the compounds and causing a faint red glow to start.

The noise grew deafening in his ears, as he looked up without seeing the machine, the wash of the rotors that flattened the grass around him indicated it was almost directly overtop. Snatching the NVGs off Li's head, he suddenly saw the large chopper in full daylight, as it slowed to a hover in a clearing fifty metres away.

Li and Amber were roused by the noise and Hex helped them to their feet so they could move to the chopper together.

* * *

><p>In the hide next to him, Alex and Camilla had fallen asleep again, huddling close for warmth in the cold night air. Paulo shivered quietly as he scanned the land in all its radioactive green majesty. A blinding light rapidly approaching, caused him to shut his eyes tightly, while the goggles amplified the brightness almost a hundredfold and washed out. He pushed the NVGs off his eyes and looked towards the light source.<p>

Fear shot through him in icy waves when he heard the barking of dogs and the shouting of men.

Beside him, the other two hidden teens jerked awake by the noise and seized up in place.

"They've got dogs?" Alex blanched, "damn takes our camo out of the equation a bit."

He checked his watch quickly; taking stock of the situation; _2035-_ _Hex and the others should be on their way by now. Hopefully they make it here before the trackers do…_


	23. Chapter 23

Taking the NVGs, Alex carefully glanced at the approaching tracking party. Out of the corner of his eye he saw some objects by the trucks carcase that could be of use. "Come on," he hissed breaking cover and sprinting to clearing by the truck. Paulo and Camilla climbed up in confusion and ran to catch up with Alex. The teen crouched down several times and seemed to be collecting a few objects, which in the darkness they couldn't identify.

Alex turned back to the tracking party, which he estimated to be about five hundred metres away before returning to his bewildered friends. Their mouths dropped in surprise when they saw what he carried back and handed to them.

Alex handed each of them an AK-47 assault rifle and several of its curled thirty round magazines.

Catching their horrified expressions he held up his hands and explained. "If we fire at them, it will make them stop where they are and take cover. By doing that we might buy enough time for the others to come pick us up."

Paulo and Camilla still looked unsure and Alex felt he needed to elaborate further. "We can't run or hide from these guys, so we either we kill them or scare them into keeping their heads down until the others arrive; I know which way I'd prefer to do it."

* * *

><p>Camilla looked at the weapons that he had found and outlines of more scattered on the ground nearby, <em>those earlier troops must have dropped them as they fled the explosions<em>. She noted in a mixture of disapproval and gratitude.

The girl gingerly held the heavy weapon, inspecting its condition. Camilla knew how to use firearms from her time living on the farm and she had actually used the AK before one time to scare some men off the property. _It is quite an elegant weapon in its simple design,_ Camilla conceded, as she remembered the flawless rapid fire it had delivered.

Simple was the key to the AK-47 assault rifle, very versatile but also extremely hardy, capable of working in almost any conditions. Her grandfathers one had been completely buried and dug up before, to work perfectly after only a light clean. She did not look forward to their coming task, but she recognised its necessity and practicality in delaying the enemy's advance.

* * *

><p>The ultimatum delivered, Paulo looked at the rough machine in his hand, quickly figuring out how it worked. He felt dirty, as held the weapon awkwardly in his good hand; he realised it was the first real time that Alpha Force had taken up arms and actually fired at people. The thought did not sit well with him at all and like Alex, he was determined not to hit anyone with the deadly 7.62mm rounds.<p>

With his wounded hand he slotted a magazine into the obvious recess it belonged in. Understanding the principle behind the rifle, he then used the two free fingers on his bad hand to draw back the cocking lever and release the working parts forward with a clash. The noise of the well-oiled metal sliding sent a shiver up Paulo's spine, as an armour-piercing round was chambered.

It's noise brought back the last time he had heard it and seen the loading drill carried out; in the shed when the soldier prepared to kill Amber. _Hopefully this ends better for me then it did for him, _Paulo grimly reflected.

The other two seemed confident in what they were doing and started counting their magazines, before lying down in separate bushes about twenty metres apart.

Paulo noticed that Alex was lying with a much larger looking weapon that had a round mag clipped to bottom, which looked like a small barrel.

"RPK-74; light machine gun," Alex explained casually, before winking "I'll start this off shall I?"

_Trust soldier boy there to be excited at a time like this, _Paulo thought sarcastically rolling his eyes.

The British teen was indeed excited to be firing a machine gun for real, something he had dreamed of many times since he had first applied for the army over a year ago. With his rejection, he had thought that he might never get the opportunity after all; he had never considered he might have the chance while facing a real enemy force.

With deft hands Alex drew back the cocking lever on the side of the weapon before smashing it forward again and raising the weapon to his prone shoulder. An ear-splitting run of cracks tore the night air, as he unloosed a burst of automatic fire in the enemy's direction, just above their heads.

The men dived frantically for cover, as the rounds sprayed overhead. The two large dogs that were held on leads, were released in the haste to return fire.

Alex felt like his shoulder had been ripped out by the recoil of the weapon and he moved the stock to a better-cushioned position before firing again.

Bullets immediately began to blindly tear back in Alex's direction by the confused soldiers.

Paulo and Camilla gritted their teeth and fired off rounds of their own, adding to the chaos.

* * *

><p>Li couldn't help but notice the difference between the helicopter they had just boarded and the one they had arrived in. The biggest difference being the soldier in a blue helmet that stood at the open door, manning the impressive machine gun. A second man in a blue helmet had helped them in before getting down to business. He took the small USB drive from Hex and plugged it into an onboard computer setting it to transfer, before instructing the pilot to fly to the coordinates that Amber provided him.<p>

With the chopper lifting into the air the man introduced himself as Major General McGarvey of the NATO coalition forces. He quickly explained that the increasing evidence of war crimes was forcing the rest of the world to intervene with the regime in Solambia. The piece of evidence Alpha Force had just provided was quite possibly the last nail in the despot's coffin.

The friends smiled at each other, glad that their hard work had made a difference.

Their smiles quickly turned to concern and fear, as the pilot announced that he was getting reports of small arms fire at the pick up point.

* * *

><p>The smell of gunpowder was heavy in the air, as the three friends doused the enemy position with suppressing fire. Not a single enemy was hit but the combined fire of the three weapons was enough to keep their heads down and to stop them advancing much closer.<p>

From his position of cover, the rifle in Paulo's hand shuddered with each round that was propelled from the barrel with a deafening crack of gunpowder. He braced the weapon against the tree, unwilling to put his broken fingers through the shockwave of each shot. A little thrill of excitement raced through his chest, as each bullet left the weapon and despite the grim situation he found he strangely enjoyed firing the weapon high above the terrified men. The more he depressed the trigger the more rounds fired off at once and the greater the buzz, the beautiful mechanics of the device working smoothly in his hand made him a little giddy.

A resounding click replaced the usual bang as he quickly expended the thirty round magazine, drawing back the cocking lever and fumbling with his bad fingers he ejected the warm, empty magazine to slot in a fresh, full one. He released the working parts slam forward and squeezed the trigger for the thrill to start again.

On the ground a new sound drowned out the deafening small arms fire and Camilla looked up to see a large helicopter approaching quickly. Dropping the horrible weapon she had been forced to use, the girl reached into her pack and drew out a chemical break light identical to the one Hex had used. She quickly cracked it, shook it and dashed off to find the others.

Camilla found Paulo on the other side of the tree having a blast, quite literally the boy was firing his weapon one armed into the distance carefully avoiding anything that looked remotely human. The loud sound and the joy of the working parts excited the boy and he didn't notice the girl tapping him on the shoulder for a few seconds.

When she got his attention he too dumped his hot weapon and they quickly moved at a crouch in the pursuit of Alex.

* * *

><p>Alex lay in the bushes about twenty metres away, carefully aiming his gun trying to take out the two fierce dogs that had slipped their leash and bounded towards their he was reluctant to shoot the approaching soldiers, Alex held no such qualms when it came to firing at their vicious half-starved canines. At about a two hundred metres he managed to cut down the first one, which tumbled over with a yelp, but he had lost sight of the second animal.<p>

Alex glared down the length of his barrel, his eyes scanning for any movement at all. The rustling in the bushes to the side of him caught the teen off guard and he was still looking down the gun when the attack dog pounced.

The heavy mongrel slammed into the prone boy's side, rolling him onto his back and bounding around for another attack.

Alex didn't have a chance to sit up, before the beast was back; it's jaws snapping for his throat, it's rancid breath huffing in his face. He locked his hands around its neck and struggled frantically to keep the gnashing teeth at bay. In a fit of desperation he managed to kick the dog forward and off him, giving him a chance to find his own feet.

Fear curdled his mind, as the low primal growl issued from behind him.

He turned to see the feral animal crouched low in anticipation of another spring. Getting a good look at the beast for the first time, he was stunned at how wild it looked. _Jeez was its mum a bloody hyena?_ He thought, eyeing the creature's broad, mangy shoulders and its long yellowed canines that were exposed during its dangerous, low snarl.

The dog powered itself forward off its powerful back legs and hurtled towards Alex. Time seemed to slow as the animal, that was nearly as heavy as him flew through the air; he only just had time enough to bring his arm up in defence of his throat.

The strong jaws had no choice but to clamp down on the exposed arm.

A sickening snap echoed out of the dog's mouth, as it's powerful teeth closed together, digging deep into the flesh and snapping Alex's radius and ulna in an instant.

Alex's world exploded in pain as his arm was crushed by an immense primal strength. The muscles of his body turned to jelly and he dropped to his knees as the pain radiated away from his ruined arm. His whole body seemed to be held in paralysis by the complaining of the sinew, muscle and bone trapped in the beast's mouth.

Paulo and Camilla found Alex just as the massive dog pounced at him.

"NOOOO! ALEX!" Camilla screamed, rushing forward only to be checked by Paulo, as the rounds whistled through the air around them.

"Get to the chopper!" He shouted at her, pushing the girl towards the descending vehicle.

"But Alex.." She protested.

"I'll help him," Paulo assured her, before pushing her again.

* * *

><p>As the helicopter lost altitude, it struck Amber how dangerous it was landing in a bullet filled environment, her mind flitted back to their earlier ride in and she shuddered. As if reading her mind, a voice came across the microphone obviously intended for the door gunner. "Weapons cleared hot."<p>

At this command the man on the turret opened up, spitting down savage licks of fire on the broken force below them. The disorganised band below was riddled with large calibre rounds reducing their bodies to broken, bloody carcases. With brutal skill and efficiency the gunner silenced the enemy fire that was coming from below them, before the skids touched down.

Hex leapt from the vehicle, despite the Major General's objections and ran across to roughly drag Camilla back to the vehicle.

"Paulo, Alex" she shouted at him and pointed towards the shadows by the tree.

* * *

><p>Alex thought he was going to black out from the pain in his arm, when the pressure suddenly slackened. He blinked, trying to comprehend what had caused this relief.<p>

Paulo stepped back from the fierce animal after delivering a solid kick to its flank and prepared for another one. "Spit out my friend you _bastardo _monster," He yelled at the animal, as he smashed his boot into the brute's side, causing it to recoil and whimper.

Paulo was usually the biggest animal lover of the bunch but this love was bypassed by a greater need to rescue his injured friend. The crippling pain in his own side seemed a small price to pay to save Alex. The grip on Alex's arm lessened again, as the dog became divided between targets.

The reduction in pain cleared the gathering mist in his head and with his only good hand Alex drew his knife. With a final plunge of effort, he drove the blade up under the dog's powerful chin and into its brain. Vice like jaws instantly released his broken arm and the teen finally passed out from the trauma.

Paulo and Hex sprinted to their fallen friend, hoisting him up under his armpits, before retrieving his weapon and dragging him to the helicopter.

Rotors whined as the pitch increased dragging the heavy helicopter with its weary and broken passengers up into the sky, homebound.

* * *

><p><strong>AN-** Epilogue to follow. ;)


	24. Epilogue

**Epilogue.**

* * *

><p>Alex's sleep was troubled by dreams of dogs, streets filled with the dead and a choking, stinging cloud of white. The white remained as he opened his eyes to find himself lying in a hospital bed facing the white tiled ceiling. He blinked in disorientation and looked down at his arm, which felt heavy and he realised the cause. A bright pink cast concealed his whole right forearm; he frowned at the colour and wriggled his fingers experimentally.<p>

A mocking voice interrupted him from the bed next to him, "They didn't come in Khaki or Olive Drab."

Alex looked across to see Li propped up by several pillows and looking very relaxed. Paulo sat at the end of her bed and waved at him with his hand that was held in a smaller, black cast. Alex's face fell when he saw the other boy's cast.

"I couldn't have gotten a black one too?" He complained morosely.

From a tacky couch opposite him another familiar voice taunted him.

"Yeah, you could have, but you were unconscious so they let us pick." Amber answered with malicious glee.

"We decided it best with you becoming a big sissy and all." Hex put in from beside her, looking quite amused at the circumstances.

Alex opened his mouth to defend himself, but seemed unable to find a defence, he was being accosted from all sides.

"You better leave poor Alex alone or I will hit you with my crutches" A voice warned sweetly from the doorway.

Alex swivelled in his bed turning to find the girl he had been worried about, standing by the door supported by a pair of crutches, a fresh bandage covering her knee.

"Yes maam," Hex apologised, with a sly grin as he moved closer to Amber, making some room for Camilla on the couch.

"I suppose you didn't try stop them from giving me a pink cast either?" Alex accused the now sitting girl.

"Whose idea do you think it was in the first place _amigo_?" Paulo shot at him, wearing his lazy cowboy grin.

"It can match the colour you go when she hugs you." Li pointed out painfully, with a look of cruel amusement.

Alex winced in embarrassment, as his colour indeed started to match his arm.

"Well I think it is rather fetching," Camilla concluded with a coy raised eyebrow, causing Alex's colour to darken further.

"Hey look he's matching it now." Amber pointed, breaking into giggles with Hex.

Camilla cut off the rest of the jokes and laughter by loudly announcing. "Well I'm going to sign his pretty pink cast now if you all want to give us a moment."

The grins couldn't have been wider, as the remainder of Alpha force trooped out of the room, deprived of further amusement.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for saving me there." Alex said, his colour slowly returning to normal.<p>

Camilla giggled and rose from the couch to crutch her way over to his bed.

"You assume I did it to save you?"

Alex looked down his bed as she sat on the end of it; raising an eyebrow, his gaze swept the length of her body slowly before he commented on her state.

"It might just be the morphine talking, but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your legs at all."

Camilla sent him an appraising look; "Maybe I'm just doing it for the sympathy?" She suggested innocently.

Alex chuckled, "Well I'm not the most sympathetic person, but I guess I could make an exception."

The blonde raised her eyebrows and shuffled a little further up the bed "My my, isn't someone the smooth talker after a few painkillers?"

Alex blushed at what almost seemed like a rebuke and looked down to his pink arm instead. "Well are you going to sign it or not?" He teased lightly.

Camilla leaned in further till she was inches away from him and whispered in a husky voice, "I'll get to that," before closing the final centimetres and kissing Alex on the lips.

A shockwave of sensation seemed to run through Alex, as the beautiful girl pressed her pert lips softly to his own. The moment and the sensation lingered a second longer before he responded in kind, kissing her right back and opening his mouth slightly to drink in her taste. Alex breathed in her sweet scent so different from the sterile smell of the hospital around him, creating an escape from the neutral prison into a whole new world.

He felt a shudder run down her body, as he returned her passion and wrapped one arm around her neck to cradle her face and pull it in to his own. His other hand drifted to her waist to pull her body further up the bed and closer to his own. She obliged by sliding her good leg across his legs til she was practically straddling him, leaning deep into his kiss and raising a hand to caress his chest. Alex gasped into her open mouth as the pleasant weight descended on him. The moment seemed so surreal for him and some small part of his mind was still trying to comprehend the magnitude of the moment.

* * *

><p>The door suddenly swung open, as Alpha Force quickly returned to the room and returned to their respective seats, causing Alex and Camilla to freeze in place, lips still locked.<p>

"Well now that we are all comfortable," Amber smirked, "Someone here wants to talk to us."

The blonde turned in place to stare at the door in shock, as the man from the helicopter the previous night walked in.

"M M Major General, Sir," She stammered awkwardly, as she quickly pivoted on her good knee and slid off Alex, who shuffled across in his narrow bed to make room for the girl to sit beside him instead.

"Camilla," He acknowledged with a look of amusement dancing in his eyes, "And you must be Alex, we didn't get a chance to meet yesterday I'm sorry. My name is Major General McGarvey."

A red-faced Camilla hissed in Alex's ear, "He's my boss." causing Alex to match her horrified expression.

Addressing the entire Alpha for the first time, Major General McGarvey continued. "I'm just here to thank you for your efforts over the last couple of weeks. What you did ensured that hundreds of villagers were bought a little more time until a proper aid chain could be established. Furthermore, the Intel you gathered was the damning evidence needed for NATO to be able to justify taking military action to remove Lomada from power."

The friends cheered and high-fived at this last point, having witnessed first hand the destructive regime and its toll on the people.

The grizzled officer broke through the celebrations, as he continued. "Frankly I'm impressed by the dedication you showed in helping these people and I'm very proud of Camilla for her part in it all. For this reason I would like to offer you all jobs of your choice working for the UN or NATO, in whatever capacity you wish. We really think you young people would be an asset."

Alpha force looked at each other, their opinion on the matter decided almost a year earlier in Scotland when they were approached by another organization with a similar offer. The choice had been made then, to remain their own independent outfit so as not to get tied up in the red tape and politics that came with working for a government or international agency.

Alex spoke up in a clear voice that summarised the groups feeling.

"Thank you very much for the offer General, but with all due respect we wish to remain our own unit for the time being."

The others nodded in agreement, despite the officer looking a little put out and Alex felt the small hand in his tighten as he spoke again.

"That is not to rule it out as a possibility though Sir and we certainly look forward to continued interaction with the UN and NATO in the future."

The last part was the standard line they trotted out when approached by government and international agencies. It was designed to soften the rejection and make it clear that Alpha Force was a professional outfit that valued its supporters and allies. They had decided that remaining independent was only viable if they were recognised by other organisations and were able to cooperate with them or work for them, when the situation required it.

"Not the too distant future I hope," A sweet voice whispered in his ear.

Alex turned to meet the lively blue eyes, as the general left the room and he brushed a loose golden lock off the girls face before answering.

"Is now soon enough for you?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN- **A slightly different adventure for our favourite team, hope you all liked the ending. Thank you all for your continued support, the kind reviews and for actually taking the time to read this. It made what was essentially my first piece of writing, a suprisingly enjoyable experience.

I hear your questions:

Will I write another? -Yes! Keep your eyes peeled for my sequel; **Ransom **and the follow up to that, which is still in progress. I call it **Repercussion**.

A one shot? -Yea could do, I guess plenty of material available for it.

Beta Reading? -Figured out what that is and have got it all set up now, so PM if you wish to discuss it.

What do I do in the real world? -I'll PM an answer for that to those that asked.

Also as an added extra and a new feature I'm putting at the end of my AF fics, find my very own **survival guide,** just like the ones in the books. I say just like, but mine are probably a little more relaxed and fun ;p Still worth a read though, all the info is accurate and could be useful!

Until next time.

**-Grey.**


	25. Grey's Survival Guide: Explosives

**A/N- **A fun little addon I thought I'd put at the tale of each story just like the actual books had. Informative but with a bit of cheek ;) Let me know what you think and I might add one for Ransom and Repercussion (when it is complete).

**-Grey.**

* * *

><p><strong>Grey Southpaw's Tips For Survival Around Explosives.<strong>

Explosions. Fun to watch not so great to be in the middle of. Explosives refer to the violent chemical reactions that result in combustion, creating ridiculous amounts of heat and energy. They come in many forms like charges, grenades, landmines, rockets and IED (Improvised explosive device). Manufactured from a variety of explosive compounds eg dynamite, C1, C4, and RDX. Alpha Force ended up getting in the thick of things with a few of these and like them, there are few simple tricks you can observe to ensure your safety.

**Safety.**

On the rare times when Alpha force uses explosives they try to leave it to the one guy who has been educated; Alex. Don't try play with explosives if you don't know what you are doing and the same goes for trying to make you own. Sure they make loud noises and look pretty but they are also extremely dangerous, many purpose built to kill or maim. Some types are less stable then others and can denature with heat or detonate unexpectedly from the smallest trigger. The injuries they cause usually affect multiple organ systems and are frequently life threatening. If you want to find out how small smithereens are just be irresponsible around explosives.

Conclusion; fun, but not a toy, too much risk involved to muck around with them if you don't know what you are doing.

* * *

><p>If you are extremely unlucky and are in the unfortunate situation where detonation is imminent or you believe you are in the presence of an explosive device you need three main things; Distance, Cover and Awareness. Get away, get behind something and get your head together.<p>

**Distance.**

Proximity to detonation is one of the single greatest determinants of survival during an explosion. Explosives, especially the military grade ones found in grenades and mines create huge destructive potential through a combination of pressure, heat and projectile. Each of these destructive forces however has a limited range and the further you are from it, the less chance you have of being injured.

So if you think there is a bomb and you have an idea where it is or where it will land, RUN! Get as far as you can from the anticipated detonation site, every single metre counts and puts you further from the lethal blast radius. Puts a literal meaning to running for your life!

**Cover.**

Distance is fine but with short notice it is pretty difficult to put enough between yourself and a bomb, this is why cover is essential. Anything that is going to put a few centimetres between yourself and some screaming hot metal is a good thing. That being said, select your cover carefully, obviously objects like windows or light foliage just aren't going to cut it. Low and solid are two good principles to base your choice on. The ground works as an excellent shield, so if you have a trench or bank handy that is pretty ideal. Why do you think shellscrapes and foxholes have been used for centuries?

If you find yourself without cover, the best you can do is protect your head and lie down, facing away from the explosive. Note that contrary to what the movies may lead you to believe, water on the whole does not provide great cover and explosions underwater actually have far greater range and shockwave. The heat and shrapnel aren't quite so deadly though, so I guess there is always that.

**Awareness.**

Being in an explosion is a scary, surreal, life-shattering event but the hardest part is remembering to keep your head about you. Not everyone who survives will bounce back as quickly as Alpha force did and start helping the wounded. Indeed many will be injured and in no state to help anyone. There will generally be a lot of confusion, bear in mind that most people will be distraught, unsure how to react and most likely deaf.

You too may be injured and disorientated, but to put it shortly; you need to get your shit together.

Just because you survived doesn't mean you're safe and other people may be in more urgent need of help then you. Several key things should always be considered in any explosion, but their order of priority will change depending on the circumstances involved.

* * *

><p><strong>Things to consider.<strong>

**Secondary detonations**.

Whether it is more bombs falling, another grenade rolling through the door or the LPG cylinder going up, you should always be mindful to the possibility of more then one explosion occuring.

In combat zones, indirect fire from mortars or artillery rarely fall in isolation, they use multiple rounds to apply aim off on their target. Either keep running like your legs are going to fall off or find yourself some decent spot to hunker down and hope like hell they stop raining death down on you.

With IEDs or bombings, the first explosion is often used to shepard or funnel victims into the killzone of a second more powerful device. This is what occurred in the infamous Bali bombings and has become a common tactic for bombers worldwide. If you are involved in a suspected bombing, be wary of nearby parked vehicles along the easy escape route and try and avoid being in the main body of frightened fleeing people. Vehicles provide an easy way to deliver large amounts of explosives to an area unobtrusively and will usually be detonated, in this instance, when it is most likely to hit the largest group of fleeing targets. Be suspicious and stay away from individuals who aren't panicked or running; they may just be the bomber.

Burst gasmains and other ignitable sources can also cause further explosions or fires from the original blast, so hiding in the gas station is a bad idea. Bear this in mind if you anticipate this hazard and keep your distance or hold your cover until you are told it is safe to come out.

**Structural collapse**.

Explosives waste the heck out of buildings. If you are using one for cover, stay near the door so you can quickly bail if it sounds like the place is coming down. According, taking cover on any stories but the ground is impractical and may leave you stranded after the blast, not a great place to be. Also be careful if you are outside or near buildings after an explosion, they may still be unstable for a while and it is unwise to return inside before the proper authorities have cleared them.

If there is one thing we learnt from Christchurch it is that digging people out of rubble takes a lot of time, manpower and creates large delays in time til treatment. The lesson from this is that if you can avoid the debris trap, the better it is for your health!

**Fires**.

Explosives create heat, pretty straight forward right? Flammable objects in your vicinity may be burnt or catch fire with the heat wave, this includes your hair and clothes. If realistic and the resources are available, extinguish any fires near you. Obviously, if this is you or your clothes on fire and you are pretty much the Human Torch, you may want to make this a priority.

Strip off on any burning layers that are easily removed and roll on the ground or suppress flames by beating/smothering. Then consider how lucky you are, while you enjoy your uncooked flesh and watch your jacket go up in smoke. If you have water nearby, well it is just common sense to jump in to put yourself out now isn't it?

Be aware of accelerants like gasoline or ethanol that may support burning and make the fire more difficult to put out. Take comfort from the fact that the human body is over 70% water and doesn't burn very easily.

Cover any burns completely with gladwrap or Clingfilm to keep clean and help reduce pain. If time allows, one should always cool burns under running water for 15-20mins, this is huge in reducing pain and further damage. Moist non-fluffy rags or dressings if that is the best you've got. I say non-fluffy, because picking lint out of seared human flesh is never much fun.

**Smoke**.

Or is it? Beware of the dangers presented from smoke or what appears to be smoke. Modern munitions allow for the expansion of projectile payloads to carry a pretty spectrum of smoke colors and a scary array of gases. If you are really unlucky the explosion was just a detonator to release a gas compound like CS or tear gas. As you all read in the story; not fun stuff to be smoked out with, it kind of feels like every drop of moisture in or on your body is violently turned to acid. Definitely not tears of happiness or laughter that is for sure.

If you think you've been gassed; don't touch your eyes or face and instead try to walk into the wind. The compound sits on your skin as little crystals that bind to water, touch your face and it makes the burning worse or spreads it. The wind helps blow away the crystals and you need a fair bit of water to relieve the pain. The shit sticks in your clothes too, so wash them thoroughly or better yet, swap them with someone you don't like.

Plain old smoke can be very bad for you too, especially when you think about what is being burnt to generate it. Smoke inhalation aggravates your airways and lungs; it is the biggest killer in just about any kind of fire. Accordingly, stay low to avoid it, get out of smoke filled environments quickly and don't go back in! The heroes that rush back into a burning building are the same ones the firemen trip over, unconscious in the hallway.

BE SAFE.

OR NOT, IT IS UP TO YOU.

_**Grey.**_

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><p><em> FanFiction and The Grey Southpaw would like to make it clear that this advice is given for use in a serious situation only, where your life could be at risk. We cannot accept any liability for inappropriate usage in normal conditions.<em>


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